Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
No fewer than 1,755 unemployed youths have been selected as beneficiaries from the Anambra State COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (AN-CARES) Programme.
The beneficiaries, oriented and enrolled by the Anambra State Community and Social Development Agency (ANCSDA), into the Labour-Intensive Public WorkFare (LIPW), for the program, will be receiving transfers/stipends in the sum of N12,500, every month for 24 months.
The State Commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget and Development Partners, Mrs Chiamaka Nnaka, disclosed this during the orientation and enrolment exercise, held at St. Marks Catholic Church Hall Abagana, in Njikoka LGA of the state.
She noted that the targets are unemployed and unskilled youths and women with education qualifications of SSCE or below; and are people who have lost labour income owing to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Nnaka, the program is very well in line with the transformation agenda of the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and that it is fundamentally focused on creating a prosperous future for the youths, empowering them to function and be productive.
“The primary needs of the youths are jobs, jobs and jobs even if temporary. And that is why this administration is setting aside over N65,000,000, as the initial grants to be transferred to deserving youths and women under the LIPW.
“The LIPW is one of the various initiatives of this administration for engaging our youths who may have been affected by our reforms in the use of Parks and Markets in the state.
“The LIPW is one of the alternatives and immediate means of redeploying them to more useful and decent livelihoods.
“The implementation procedure involves mandatory life-skills training for the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are also encouraged to save some of the stipends, as this saving would form the seed money that would enable them to venture into various livelihoods proper to the training they have received,” she added.
