BY SAMIE WAIKORI

The Australian government through DFAT has supported 14 young people in Malaita province with SBD140,000.

Each youth received $10,000 to implement various youth projects in their communities.

The funding was made possible by Australian government through the Australia Solomon Islands Program Support (ASIPS), supported by Malaita provincial government through Malaita Provincial Youth Council (MPYC).

In an interview yesterday, Malaita Youth Coordinator, Mr Francis Samo confirmed the support, after a training to capacitate the youths to implement the fund was held last week in Auki, Malaita province.

He said the training focussed on leadership, advocacy and project grant management. The training also equipped youths with proposal writing, entrepreneurship and other skills necessitating the implementation of the projects.

Samo explained the purpose of the funding is to support young people in Malaita province with economic empowerment projects.

“The 14 youth recipients, whom represented youth associations from five regions of the province will go back and plan the execution of the fund.

“The programme is relatively on income generation project, which also covers climate change and other important areas of advocacy that require participation of youths in the province.

“The timeframe of the programme is six months and will review to see the next step of the funding support,” he said.

In a statement from Malaita Issues, Provincial Secretary (PS) of Malaita province, Mr Eric George acknowledged Australian government through DFAT for its commitment to empowering young people in Malaita through the funding support.

George said that the funding support will benefit young people both in Malaita and Solomon Islands.

Meanwhile, he also expressed the ongoing commitment of Malaita provincial government to youth employment and economic empowerment in the province.

Malaita Provincial Government Minister for Youth, Women, and Sports, Hon John Sugono also acknowledged the youths and urged them to share what they learned during the training.

“Do not sleep on what you have learned. Take it back to your wards and put it into practice,” he said.

The program marks a milestone in MPYC’s effort to equip young people with skills and resources needed to lead and advocate for community development in Malaita Province.

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