Youth call for transparency about the Youth Fund

Young people in Matobo are calling for equal and fair distribution of the Youth Fund across districts by the ministry of youth, development, indegenisation and empowerment after the realization that US$250 000 has already been distributed but none of the youths in the district have benefitted from the fund so far.

They expressed discontent with the way the fund is being handled saying that there was a need for the ministry to capacitate the youths in project proposal writing and project management before distributing the fund. They emphasized that it is possible for some of them to fail to write convincing project proposals even if they know exactly what they want to do and their projects are viable.

“A number of us here applied for the loans through the representatives of the ministry here in the district, they are the ones who helped us write the project proposals but we are surprised to date we still have not received any response,” said Lethukuthula Ndlovu, one of the youths in Silozwi, Matobo.

Ndlovu also lamented the lack of information that exists in their communities about the youth fund saying that it was affecting their chances of accessing it.

“A lot of us would like to access the money because we are unemployed and have no ways of generating income unless if we engage ourselves in income generation projects. The fund would go a long way in guaranteeing most of us a means of living but the problem is that very few people know about the fund,” she said, adding that even the officers from the ministry in their district seemed not to have sufficient information about the fund to share with the rest of the young people.

The ten million United States dollar fund was launched last year in an effort to assist young people who are hardest hit by unemployment. Each province is expected to receive one million dollars each and so far $250 000 has been distributed although it is unclear how each of the provinces have benefitted from the fund so far. The concern so far has been the fact that the requirements for accessing the fund are limiting especially to rural youths who are also affected by lack of information about the fund.