The European Union (EU) and Portugal are today launching a four-year project to train and employ young people in Cabo Delgado, a province suffering a humanitarian crisis as a result of terrorist attacks.
The four-year +EMPLOYMENT pilot project aims to provide vocational training in natural gas to 800 young people aged 15 to 25, of which a minimum of 25% are to be women, the partners announced.
The goal is to see at least half the trainees employed or self-employed in public-private partnership in the sector.
“This project stems from a partnership between the EU and Camões, I.P. and represents a European commitment to the development and stability of the province, bearing in mind, in particular, the worsening security and humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado Province,” the joint statement declares.
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Cabo Delgado has reserves of natural gas in the Indian Ocean which are expected to catapult Mozambique into the world’s top 10 producers by 2022. The resources have brought Africa’s largest private investment, led by French oil major Total, to the region.
An armed insurgency which began in the province in 2017 has intensified this year, causing an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 deaths and internally displacing 435,000 people.
The +EMPREGO has an overall budget of €4.2M (about 357 million meticais), €4M (340 million meticais) financed by the EU under the 11th European Development Fund and €200,000 (17 million meticais) by Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, which will be responsible for managing the project.
Source: Lusa via Club of Mozambique