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Mercy Corps donates to Youth and Sports

As part of Mercy Corps’ efforts toward youth employment in Liberia and in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the organization recently donated two vehicles to the Liberia Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS).  The equipment has a combined market value of over $40,000 USD.

The assets were transferred from the closed Mercy Corps’ Liberia Employment & Entrepreneurship (LEEP) programme implemented from 2019 – 2022. The four million Euro programme enabled youth aged 18 – 35 in Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado counties to find meaningful, market-driven employment or self-employment. In just over three years of implementation, 12,915 youth were reached across the three counties.

The donation comes as a complement to Mercy Corps’ ongoing youth employment initiatives, including PROSPECTS IV, which is funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia and takes a market systems development approach to youth employment. The programme is in its fourth iteration, after 10 years of successful youth employment work, which was the basis for the design of LEEP.

In the last three years of implementation, Mercy Corps has partnered with the MYS to support 11,294 Liberian youth (including 58% females) to acquire job-readiness training and skills, access placements in the MYS Youth on the Job Training/National Youth Service (YOJT/NYS) programme and gain valuable life skills training through sports. In addition, 1,603 (including 58% females) accessed microenterprise grants and technology training. The programme also engaged the private sector, extended 18 business grants to small and medium enterprises with job creation potential.

The items donated on Wednesday December 21, 2022, included two 2018 Ford Escape SUVs. The vehicles will enable the Ministry of Youth & Sports to continue implementing components of the LEEP program such as the Youth on the Job Training programme and the National Youth Service Program. 

In a statement during the asset transfer and signing ceremony at the Mercy Corps office in Monrovia, Mercy Corps’ Acting Country Director, Sophie Dresser appreciated the Ministry for their continuous support and partnership adding that the donation reaffirms the agency’s commitment to youth empowerment in Liberia. She noted that “the donated vehicles will hopefully make the work of the Ministry of Youth and Sports – MYS easier”.

Receiving the items, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Hon. Peter Bemah, commends Mercy Corps for the gesture. Hon. Bemah expressed the Ministry’s commitment to properly utilizing the assets. In his words: “This is a remarkable gesture by Mercy Corps and AFD. I can assure you that these vehicles will enhance our work and ensure the LEEP program is sustained at the various centers.”  He added that the vehicles will also support the Ministry to be able to support other ongoing initiatives like Mercy Corps PROSPECTS IV programme.

Wednesday’s asset transfer was Mercy Corps’ third time this year to make major donations in boosting the logistical capacities of key Liberian institutions. In January 2022, Mercy Corps provided two vehicles and a camera drone to the National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL). Later in February 2022, Mercy Corps provided solar energy equipment to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to enable sustainable and consistent operations of the Youth Opportunity Centers (supported by the LEEP programme) in Buchanan and Kakata.

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Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.  Now, and for the future. Learn more at: www.mercycorps.org.

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NewDawn

The New Dawn is Liberia’s Truly Independent Newspaper Published by Searchlight Communications Inc. Established on November 16, 2009, with its first hard copy publication on January 22, 2010. The office is located on UN Drive in Monrovia Liberia. The New Dawn is bilingual (both English & French).
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