Multi-million dollar programme to address Afghan youth

The Afghan government have unveiled a multi-million dollar project designed to address some of the needs of Afghan youth, IRIN learnt on Monday. "Seventy percent of two million unemployed Afghans are the youth who have been deprived of education during the years of war, mainly during the Taliban time," Mohammad Ghuas Bashiri, a deputy minister in the ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, told IRIN in Kabul.

According to the World Bank, which administers the US $2.98 million Japanese-funded youth project, recent studies indicate that there are over five million young people in Afghanistan, many of whom are severely disadvantaged. Despite the influx of developmet aid in the post-Taliban era, there are currently very few programmes aimed specifically at the development of the country's youth.

The Japan Social Development Fund (JSCF) is the lead donor for the project. "We hope this grant will make a difference for young Afghans' social life," said Kinichi Komano, Japanese Ambassador to Afghanistan at the launching ceremony in Kabul.

Under the project, entitled 'Creating Future Potential Micro-Entrepreneurs' youngsters would be targetted with a focus on their developmental needs, helping them to establish youth development centers for orientation, guidance, information exchange, and skills training in the country.

"During more than two decades of war and destruction, many young Afghans lost their livelihoods and missed the chance to be active members of their society," Shideh Hadian, World Bank project team leader, noted.

According to the Labour and Social Affairs ministry, the four-year project is a pilot programme which will offer literacy, micro finance and vocational training in order to build social capacity and create employment opportunities. "We will give top priority for girls as they sustained more deprivation than men," Bashiri maintained. "In fact employment guarantees security and it will stop youth from joining in or undertaking destructive activities," the deputy minister added.

The labour minstry said the project would cover only four provinces and it would expand once more money was forthcoming from donors. "We also have pledges from donors mainly Iran, to launch similar types of projects throughout the country," Bashir said.