BY: ISAIAH KITIMBO

MADI-OKOLLO.

A total of 160 young people from the five districts of Arua, Madi-Okollo, Nebbi, Pakwach and Zombo have been empowered with crucial vocational skills to create new sources of livelihoods following three months of intense training in agriculture and agribusiness related areas.

The training in courses that included bee keeping, vegetable farming, poultry and piggery, was fully sponsored by Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) under the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) Youth Skilling Programme supported by the European Union. The programme targets to train 1,300 youths selected from 41 districts in Northern Uganda.

The Minister of State for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Hon. Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, hands over certificates of completion to the learners at ADRAA on January 20, 2023

At an award ceremony where certificates of completion were issued by the Franciscan Brothers ADRAA Agriculture College on January 20, 2023, the Minister of State for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Hon. Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, said: “Substantial progress and gains are being made to prioritize skilling of the youth across the country. I encourage you to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to start your own business. Indeed, with today’s graduation, we all consider you as an “agent of transformation”.

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Jan Sadek, stated: “The European Union is delighted to work with OPM to implement such an important programme. Offering opportunities to young Ugandans to gain crucial skills in the agriculture sector will have direct impact on their employability, income and livelihoods. I trust that they will become role models for other young people who will benefit from their acquired knowledge.”

TVET grant contracts

According to the DINU National Programme Coordinator, Ms. Pamela Kabahesi, the DINU Youth Skilling Programme (YSP) targets to train a total of 1,300 youths selected from 41 districts in Northern Uganda in agriculture and agribusiness areas for improved employability and income-generating opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Ms. Kabahesi said OPM contracted eight Technical Vocational Education Training Institutes (TVETs) based in Northern Uganda to implement the DINU YSP last year.

Minister commissions beekeeping start-up kits

The TVETs include ADRAA Agricultural College, Amelo Technical Institute, Lokopio Technical Institute, Amugu Agro Technical Institute, Ave Maria Vocational Training and Youth Development Centre, Kotido Technical Institute, Nakapiripirit Technical Institute, and Northern Uganda Youth Development Centre.

“With an intake of 160 youths to be trained from November 2022 to May 2023, each TVET was awarded a grant contract of approximately 50,000 EUR or Shs220 million to conduct the skills development and training programmes in key areas such as: horticulture, crop & animal husbandry, beekeeping, agro-input supply management, tree nursery operation and carpentry,” she said.

She explained that the short-term vocational training programmes also include an apprenticeship and delivery of a set of start-up kits for the trained youth, enabling them to practice the acquired skills and to set-up and create small businesses.

DINU background

The Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), a Government of Uganda programme supported by the European Union and supervised by Office of the Prime Minister, was initiated in 2017. DINU is funded with a 132.8 million Euros grant from the European Union, 11.9 million Euros from the Government of Uganda and 5.9 million Euros from implementing partners.

OPM is responsible for the overall supervision of the DINU programme in partnership with local governments and a wide range of stakeholders, including other implementing partners – Department for International Development (DFID)/Trademark East Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). Others are CARITAS Switzerland, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (ITTA), National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), CARE-Denmark, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), ADOL Health Care Initiative, and DIAKONIA-Sweden.

Further details on the DINU programme can be found at Twitter: @OPMDINU1 and OPM website: www.opm.go.ug

Media Contacts:

  • Mr Emmanuel Gyezaho, Press Advisor, European Union Delegation, +256 312 701 000 /+256 756 719 882, Emmanuel-Davies.GYEZAHO@eeas.europa.eu
  • Mr Isaiah Kitimbo, Communication and Visibility Officer, OPM DINU PMU, +256752 4036