The first lady, Isaura Nyusi, revealed that the ‘My Kit, My Job’ programme had benefited a total of 19,772 young people between 2020 and the first half of 2024, 10,455 of whom were women, a figure that corresponds to 53%.
According to the leader, quoted by the Agência de Informação de Moçambique, in the same period, the programme, led by the Secretary of State for Youth and Employment, delivered 7962 self-employment kits.
Isaura Nyusi was speaking on Thursday (28) in the city of Praia (Cape Verde), during the launch of the ‘We Are Equal’ campaign, an event that ends this Friday (29). The ceremony was attended by the President of Cape Verde, José Maria das Neves.
‘In the My Kit, My Job programme we give young people work tools in different areas, so that they can turn their skills and technical knowledge into a business and set up their own micro-enterprise quickly, safely and formally,’ said Isaura Nyusi.
The ‘We Are Equal’ campaign is promoted by the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OPDAD) and aims to combat gender inequalities on the African continent, addressing issues such as health, education, economic empowerment and the prevention of gender-based violence.
On the subject of retaining girls in school and combating early unions in the country, Isaura Nyusi said that since 2021 she has been a patron of the ‘Eu Sou Capaz’ programme, an initiative funded by the World Bank.
Therefore, by 2024, according to the wife of the President of the Republic, the initiative plans to support 600,000 girls from 5th to 7th grade, from seven national provinces. This will provide better opportunities for education and empowerment, through actions that encourage their retention in school, discourage premature and forced unions and early teenage pregnancies.
The initiative distributes free school supplies, uniforms and bicycles to students moving on to 8th grade. ‘We empower girls through vocational training programmes and pre-vocational internships,’ said the first lady, adding that around 20,000 girls have benefited from pre-vocational internships throughout the country since 2020.
As President of the Movement for Advocacy, Awareness Raising and Resource Mobilisation for Literacy (MASMA), an initiative that aims to mobilise society to participate actively and collectively in reducing illiteracy rates, Isaura Nyusi recognised the great potential of African countries to leverage their human capital.
However, she explained that efforts must be made now and in the future to invest in the education and training of children and young people.
Therefore, according to Isaura Nyusi, African countries can position themselves to reap the benefits of economic productivity plus the demographic dividend, which occurs when there is a large working population in relation to the number of dependents.
‘We must also fight for the continued expansion of the school network; reduce the number of children sitting on the floor and invest more and more in free basic and secondary education,’ she emphasised.
