Apprentice Program Teaches Unemployed Youth Marketable Skills
On June 16, unemployed youth in the community of Halmion, in southern Kyrgyzstan, received Category III status in electro-gas welding as part of the USAID-funded Collaborative Development Initiative (CDI) project, implemented by Mercy Corps.
The CDI project aims to decrease unemployment and reduce sources for tension in remote and economically underdeveloped areas of Kyrgyzstan by providing opportunities for 600 unemployed youth to acquire professional technical skills for which there is high demand. Due to poverty and poor living standards, these youth are unable to obtain secondary and higher education. Without professional skills, they face few prospects in the local and foreign labor markets. Many of Kyrgyzstan’s disadvantaged youth emigrate to Russia in search of employment, and frequently resort to working as seasonal agricultural workers.
In Halmion alone, CDI has organized sewing, hairdressing and vehicle repair courses for 40 unemployed youth. Helping young people acquire the skills needed to support themselves and their families is an important first step towards improving their—and, in turn, their community’s—hope for a more promising future.
 |
The Master electro-gas welding apprenticeship is among the most popular job training programs offered by CDI
Photo Credit: Mercy Corps |
Back to Top ^ |
