EDA is committed to the wellbeing of all youth, and especially those you are at-risk or vulnerable. For the past decade, this commitment has been expressed through the Youth Initiative Program. More that 9000 unemployed youth who have been accepted into the program have received vocational and entrepreneurship training.
Once this training is complete, participants may be eligible to receive small grants to set up their own small business. Often, a grant of only $150 US, will be sufficient to start these young people on the road to success and self-sufficiency.
Other young people in the program prefer to enter the labor force. Of those 500 youth who have been trained in hotel management, 95% found employment in hotels and restaurants.
Many youth in the program have been hired to work on EDA projects. Currently, 100 young women are employed at our WaSH business centres and bio-gas plants.