Youth in Garissa County have been urged to take advantage of 30 per cent procurement set aside by the government for youth, women, and people with disability to empower themselves.
Speaking during the opening of youth workshop at a Garissa hotel on Thursday, County Executive Committee member Mrs Zeinab Abdi in-charge of youth said the youths who are the majority in the county ought to be empowered so that they can be self-reliant.
The workshop that was organized by the Aga Khan Foundation is being implemented by the European Union to train youths on life skills that will help them in the future.
"Youth have a lot of opportunities including the 30 per cent that is set aside for them by the government. Please take advantage and apply so that you can empower yourselves," Zeinab said.
The CEC at the same time revealed that the county government has set aside shs150 million for youth empowerment in the county.
“The funds will go towards empowering the youth, women, and people with disability to be self-reliant,” she said.
Aga Khan Foundation area manager for Coast and Northeastern Atrash Ali Mohamed said the program is aimed at promoting leadership, inclusivity, pluralism, and diversity.
Mohamed said they are partnering with both national and county government to ensure the youth benefit and have access to economic opportunities.
“This is part of our overall goal of improving social economic opportunity for the youths. We want to offer them an opportunity to be self-reliant. This we hope will, in turn, reduce issues of desperate youths being lured to join terror groups,” he said.