By Millicent Senava Mannah
In an important effort to educate and empower young women on entrepreneurship and business, the Caritas “Youth in Politics and Peacebuilding” Project, supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF), concluded a five-day Entrepreneurship and Business Management Consultancy Training for youth and women’s groups in Sierra Leone. This 24-month project is a collaborative endeavor between the Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Caritas Freetown, and the UNPBF.
The training brought together twenty women from eight communities in the Western Rural area, including four women with disabilities. Topics covered included entrepreneurship, business ideas, financial literacy, business management and micro-financial institutions.
Implemented in five different districts across the country, similar training sessions have already been conducted in Port Loko, Kenema, Bo and Western Rural, with Western Urban remaining.
Eliza Sillah, the Programme Coordinator, emphasized the consultant’s approach to train local young women on entrepreneurship. The training aimed to inspire them to identify problems they could solve and create business plans to contribute to the financial improvement of their families and communities.
She noted that the training is already showing positive impacts, with participants beginning to apply their knowledge and start their own businesses further clarifying that no seed money would be provided. However, financial institutions were invited during the training to teach participants how to acquire loans to start businesses if needed.
Abdulai Bangura, the Lead Consultant and Director for Livelihood Development for the Human Rights Commission, highlighted the importance of the training. He stated that young people are economic drivers with the energy, willingness, skills and innovation needed to undertake and succeed in business.
One of the beneficiaries, Fatima, expressed her gratitude to Caritas and CRS for the impactful training, mentioning her plans to open a tailoring shop in her community to benefit other young women.
Jane Kamara, another beneficiary and one of the participants with disabilities, also expressed her gratitude and intention to implement her new knowledge to support her family and community financially. She further urged donors to continue funding and extending the project to benefit more youth.
