By Goth Mohamed Goth
Somaliland Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, Hon Hinda Jama Hirsi Gani, on Wednesday launched a program called UP SHIFTING to support local youth entrepreneurial talent and connect them to the local market and beyond, the entrepreneurship competition was announced on the 13 October 2019 by NAGAAD Network Coalition.
Ms. Nafisa Yusuf Mohamed, the executive director of NAGAAD Women’s Umbrella Women’s speaking during the occasion gave an in-depth detail of the UP SHIFTING program which will fund startups for 50 youth both Male and Female alike.
“You will be given training and mentorship, once you complete the training, your ideas will not be single, but collectively, you will be invested in it, and now it has been announced that in the whole of Africa, only Sudan is ahead of us.”Although we are all African, our requirements and challenges are different,” said Nafisa Yusuf Mohamed.
She added, “When we announced the competition over 200 applications were received chosen 50 applicants to take part in the program based on the quality of application, the program was generally designed to benefit two hundred persons, you are the first 50 people, and in fact you are a role model for other young people behind you thus why you should utilize this opportunity to produce startups which will bear fruits.
The minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, Hon Hinda Jama Hirsi Gani said,” “We are delighted to welcome these programs which fund business startups for 50 girls and boys.”
“With the ministry tasked with upholding and implementing community-led services which include creating employment, we welcome UPSHIFT as a truly fruitful program the reason working it out’ to come up with his own ideas of what he can do or what he thinks his environment is really about and running, so I very much welcome this project and all of you welcome to you being fortunate enough to be the first team to look at this program, and I hope God will be the one to make it possible to be expanded across the country, ”said the Minister of Labor.
She added; “I am also pleased to announce that the Ministry of Employment, the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry of Finance is in control of the $ 200,000 (two hundred thousand dollars) that the President of Somaliland has poured into the youth of Somaliland who need help. I am glad to see youth who are creative and ready to come up with ideas to empower themselves,
Also among the dignitaries were representatives of UNICEF and D.O.T the international organizations supporting the program showcased the benefits of the program in creating jobs for Somaliland youth, the UP SHIFTING program which will fund startups for 50 youth both male and female.
