It is therefore an urgent need for us as your servants to empower you and equip you for a new season of jobs
By Kondanani Chilimunthaka
President Lazarus Chakwera has said the newly launched National Youth Service is meant for sustainable job creation among many youths who are unemployed in the country.
Speaking during the launch of the programme at Chikonde school ground in Neno district, on Tuesday July 19, 2022, President Chakwera said: “Three years ago, before you chose me to serve you as President, one of the main things I promised to do as President was to establish National Youth Service.
The reason I promised to launch this programme was to train thousands of unemployed youth with marketable skills and connect them to opportunities for productive and profitable work. In short, the National Youth Service is a sustainable way for creating jobs for those who are looking for job today and those who will need work tomorrow, especially those who do not have the chance to attain a tertiary education”.
President Chakwera told the nation during the ceremony that the programme has proved to be successful in bridging the existing gaps between skills, work experience, and job opportunities among the youth globally.
Further, he said that giving young people such skills that Malawi needs today and in the future is not just the smart thing to do, but also a matter of urgency due to a number of challenges facing the world economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Eastern Europe, and the climate change which did not spare Malawi as combined forces destroying millions of jobs for young people and rob them of the promise of a better future.
“It is therefore an urgent need for us as your servants to empower you and equip you for a new season of jobs that is coming, not only for your benefits, but for the benefits of our country as a whole.” Added Malawi leader.
Here President Chakwera told the nation that he is bringing international companies to work together with the programme to reinforce its success and sustainability into the future, citing the support of an European company he has recently secured to finance the training of 28,000 young people by paying for their education, an agreement he said will go for 15 years as a good example.
President Chakwera has since called for more partners to join the innovation, while urging the youth to be hard-working, saying the new Malawi is not for lazy people.
The National Youth Service has been allocated over K3 billion in the 2022/23 Financial Year.