Dar es Salaam (ILO NEWS) - The ILO through the UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment (UNJP - YE) in Tanzania is organizing a training on Entrepreneurship Development and HIV/AIDS for more than 500 youth based in Mbeya, Iringa and Njombe regions from 23 May to 2 June 2016.
The two weeks training is aimed at supporting more than 500 youth from the disadvantaged groups of young men and women who are at risk of contracting HIV in the processes of making a living to start economic activities thereby contributing to job creation.
Commenting on the training, Ms. Getrude Sima the ILO National Project Coordinator for HIV and AIDS at the workplace project, calls for everyone to recognize the mutually-reinforcing links between unemployment and working poverty on the one hand and vulnerability to HIV on the other.
“Young people facing challenges in the labour market may have no choice but undertake work that is marginal, dangerous or illegal, sometimes leading to risky behaviours and higher exposure to HIV… Similarly, those living with HIV or affected by the epidemic face more difficulties in finding decent jobs because of HIV-related stigma and discrimination”, Sima said.
The objective is to adapt initiatives to promote youth employment, in order to take into account young people’s susceptibility and vulnerability to HIV and AIDS.
The training which will use ILO tools, Start and Improve your Business and Gender and Entrepreneurship together manuals will dwell on the following areas, among others:
Identifying business potentials and managing small businesses successfully
Identifying market potentials and ensuring constant access to markets
Establishing business plans, implementing new projects and identification of sources of business finances
Understanding transmission of HIV and AIDS and drivers of epidemics in the localities, and
Social economic impact of HIV and AIDS in individuals and the community at large
The training will further enhance access to finance through the ongoing district initiatives including e.g. youth and women development funds as well as ILO UNJP-YE start-up grants for selected viable business ideas.
The UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment is an integral part of the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP), financed by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and being implemented jointly by ILO, FAO, UNIDO, and UN Women. It is designed to develop an integrated strategy towards addressing the youth employment challenge in Tanzania through promoting decent and productive jobs for young women and men in self and/or wage employment in the informal economy.
