Background:

In Sierra Leone the high rate of youth engagement in violence, armed robbery, bullying, drug abuse and the rate of youth unemployment is an indicator that youth are not getting the required skills and experience that is imperatively significant in the development of Sierra Leone. For decades, unemployment has been the predominant problem, and it has been supplemented by the worsening labor and political conditions. This is found in forms of involuntary part-time employment, under employment, temporary employment, and employment positions with no social benefit packages. Youth unemployment in Sierra Leone needs urgent attention because it has a great negative implication on our society, such as increased poverty rate, corruption, drug abuse, marginalization, violence, social exclusion etc.

We are working towards helping to mitigated the high rate of Youth unemployment by empowering youth to serve as active citizens in contributing to strengthening the livelihood of their various communities towards development, building on current assets and helping other fellow citizens to have a successful future. Movement towards Education and Youth Empowerment-Sierra Leone (MEYE-SL) in November, 2016, established a partnership with Planetstartup Entrepreneurship Academy, (a registered international organization in the USA/Florida), to help in synergizing our efforts in mobilizing vulnerable and unemployed youth within Sierra Leone. Youth would then partake in the Planetstartup online entrepreneurship, project management, mentorship training, to help eliminate the problems of youth unemployment within Sierra Leone.

The training programme has been lasting for seven (7) weeks. The training focus is to transform the mindset of youth participants to change their thinking besides new jobs based on emerging technologies, youth need to start thinking about entrepreneurial creativity. This is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship as a top priority for  them concerning the potential for jobs creation, and a source of boosting up their self-reliance capacities.

The training has been concentrating on building the knowledge base of youth to accept entrepreneurship as a major job creator and allow entrepreneurship to serve as a powerful driver for future economic growth. The result is for a more prosperous and peaceful Sierra Leone. The training programme has been concentrating on topics like leadership in project management, business plan writing, crowdfunding opportunities, strategic operations, business ethics, marketing, innovation and technology, emerging markets and risk analysis, strategic business planning, and corporate social responsibilities. 

Key Activities:

1. Mobilized committed youth and women that are willing to acquire entrepreneurship skills training to transform our society economically, through giving them access to online skills training in relation to entrepreneurship, business plan writing, fundraising, marketing, and mentorship.
2. To facilitate leadership, entrepreneurship and business skills acquisition/vocational training for women, youth groups, and unemployed youth to enable them to develop socio-economic knowledge in catering, building up resilience to ownership and self-employment to businesses to foster economic growth and reducing the high rate of youth unemployment within Sierra Leone.
3. Identify and share best practices on how young people can maintain resilience while they continue to exercise their rights and voice on key security and developmental priorities limiting them to reach their full potentials.