For youth business organization- Young Entrepreneurs Council Solomon Islands (YECSI) – it is a tick in the box for them to have the opportunity to do presentation for policy officials in the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet (OPMC).
Yesterday (Thursday 15th October) YECSI’s founder and chairlady Millicent Barty and YECSI’ Coordinator Emmanuel Pitakaka had the privilege to do presentation for officials from the Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PIMEU) in the OPMC.
Besides educating the officials about YECSI and its work with youths, Pitakaka also provide details about the local programs the YECSI rolled out to date.
According to Pitakaka several programs have been rolled out to date by YECSI but one particular program that is on- going is the Enovation blo umi program where 40 young entrepreneurs undergone three phases of online business training.
Founder and chairlady of YECSI Millicent Barty said one of the underlying aims of the EBI program is that at the end of phase three of the program there is expectancy that few young entrepreneurs will be admitted into the formal business sector.
She added that by getting into the formal sector, young entrepreneurs will provide more job opportunities for others and they will contribute as well to the national economy.
Ms Barty said the country has 16,000- 18,000 job seekers every year and of these staggering number only 4,000 jobs are available in the market.
The YECSI founder and chairlady said YECSI is targeting those that are left- out and jobless, it is about transforming the job seekers into job creators.
While acknowledging YECSI’s presentation, Deputy Secretary to Prime Minister Dr Derick Mane said YECSI is an example of an organization that work to address issues that directly relating to government policies.
Dr Mane said YECSI is playing a pivotal complementary role in that it addresses areas where relevant government authorities are not able to address.
Summing up the meeting, Bernard Bata’anisia, National Consultant in PIMEU speak highly of the meeting saying it is a privilege to have a youth oriented organization that actually do the work on the ground to meet with policy officials in the OPMC and Government.
Bata’anisia said the connectivity between policy officials and implementers must be harnessed to ensure synergy between policy statements and work on the ground.
Bata’anisia highlighted that the next steps are to ensure government is able to factor in assistance to Organizations, like YECSI, through the relevant line Ministries.
- GCU Media Release
