UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS from settlements in Honiara are set to be recruited for public works later this year.
This is made possible through the Rapid Employment Project (REP) which will be launched in a one-day workshop in Honiara on Tuesday.
REP is the initiative of the World Bank following requests from the Solomon Islands Government in 2008 to address urban unemployment.
Youths from settlements like White River, Burns Creek, Borderline and other vulnerable areas in Honiara will benefit from this project.
They will be engaged to work on labour based public works such as road repair, foot path repair and construction, and garbage collection in and around Honiara.
The Honiara City Council and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) will be implementing this employment opportunities which will be on short-term basis.
The second part of this five year project will be focusing on capacity building.
This to ensure skills and knowledge possessed by women and girls are enhanced.
They will be trained to help improve their knowledge, experience and basic life skills which are key values in work place and society.
A third component of this project is management support which will focus on the next step toward sustaining the capabilities and skills of those engaged to participate in the employment scheme and training.
The objective of the project is to assist targeted vulnerable urban populations to increase their incomes through the provision of short-term employment and improve their knowledge, experience and basic employment skills that are valued in the workplace and society.
The World Bank estimates a total cost of US$7.2 million for this project over a five year period. An initial US$3.2 million (SBD 24 million) have been approved last month to kick start the project.
The project is expected to provide roughly 500,000 labour days to 7,500 beneficiaries within Honiara over its five year lifespan from 2010-2015.
The employment scheme on short term is expected to start later this year.
