With effect from next year, each of the 112 districts in the country will receive Shs2 billion to help jobless youth start income generating activities. This was announced by President Museveni last week.
Daily Monitor understands that the money will be channeled through the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) run by the Ministry of Gender.
The President, who addressed a news conference in Napak District last week, said: “We are going to put more money in the Youth Fund to help the jobless youth across the country.”
Following the official launch of the YLP, a brain child of Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, on January 24, 2014, the government embarked on the implementation of the programme to the 112 district local governments. As a result, the participating districts have been able to select beneficiaries and facilitate the youth to generate project proposals in accordance with the set guidelines.
To-date, the Ministry of Gender has financed 1,563 youth group projects, worth Shs12b for a total of 20,192 beneficiaries in 27 districts under the first phase.
But the programme has come under scrutiny over the manner in which the funds are distributed and in some parts of the country where the funds have been released, they have been abused. In other areas, the fund has made little or no impact as a result of poor planning, corruption and the bureaucracies involved in accessing the funds.
When contacted at the weekend, Mr Bigirimana said the YLP has since been rolled out to all the 112 districts. He welcomed the President’s decision and said they will arrest district leaders who are demanding collateral from the jobless youth. He said each financial year, the government targets 71,000 youth depending on population size and poverty count.
Adapted from Monitor
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