Her Highness Sheikha Moza witnesses signing of key agreements with Silatech

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Silatech’s Board of Trustees, and Ahmed Eissa Awad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Somalia, witnessed yesterday in New York the signing of three agreements to economically empower Somali youth by securing more than 75,000 jobs in Somalia. A collaboration between Silatech, the American Refugee Committee (ARC) and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), aims to provide housing and energy solutions for 1,000 families and develop local youth owned enterprises; creating around 3,000 jobs for returning refugees and IDPs in the Kismayo district. Silatech’s second agreement is to support Al Amal bank in financing youth enterprises to create 63,414 jobs around Somalia. The third agreement is in partnership with the Somali Institute for Development and Research Analysis (SIDRA) to train 9,000 graduates with the required skills for job placement.These agreements are part of Silatech’s continuous effort in Somalia to empower youth and women to play an active role in developing their own communities and promoting peace and security in a time of crises and frequent disasters affecting the social and economic stability of the Somali people. Furthermore, Her Highness witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Silatech, the UN Democracy Fund, and Tamkeen for Development to collaborate on improving youth empowerment and skills development based on the World Programme of Action for Youth. The MoU aims at engendering, promoting and strengthening youth engagement and entrepreneurship, as well as improving employability in countries of mutual interest.