The Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice) Democratic Council (RDC) is presently working on an initiative to host a Youth Business Forum in Linden, as a means of assisting young people from the community in creating jobs for themselves. The forum is expected to be held over a two-day period sometime in November and is set to include interactive sessions with business entities.
This will be the second such initiative that the Council has collaborated on in recent months, as a means of equipping youths with skills necessary in order to earn a living.
Regional Chairman Renis Morian said he realised that there are a number of people in the community who have completed various levels of education who find it difficult to secure jobs, hence the need to conduct such an initiative.
“We’ve recognised that (there are) a number of young people coming out of University looking for jobs, and if those people understand the opportunities that they have with doing their own job…at this forum too, we would want to have banks represented, NIS, GRA, so you
Regional Chairman Renis Morian
could help young people…say look, ‘you want to start a business?’ Here is the opportunity, this is what you have to do,” he said.
While unemployed youths are targeted, Morian said those who wish to attend must possess a certain level of academic qualification. The forum will be a collaborative effort between the RDC and civil society. The Region is said to be one with a high level of unemployment, prevalent more so among youths.
Just recently, the RDC collaborated with civil society to launch a youth Work Readiness programme which saw numerous youths being attached to various entities to acquire work readiness skills.
Speaking on the issue of unemployment recently, Regional Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira said that while youth unemployment is not a new phenomenon under the present Government, the challenges have been recognised and steps are being taken to remedy the situation.
