Job skills focus of UN training program for youth
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A UN program training program has given a boost to nearly 100 job-seeking youth, including refugees and displaced Iraqis.
"The project is intended to help in the employability of unemployed or underemployed youth," said Peewee Culaton-Viray, chief technical adviser for the Employment and Food Security Project that oversees training for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Eighty-nine youth graduated on Wednesday from intensive courses in graphic arts, mobile phone repair, automobile maintenance, and sewing and fabric arts. Top students also received equipment including laptops, toolkits, and software, and were placed in paid internships to provide real-world jobs experience.
"You must pursue jobs," said Haider Mustafa, Director General of Development Coordination and Cooperation from the Ministry of Planning. "We hope this project helped in that pursuit. Regardless of whether you are immigrants or refugees, you must never give up hope."
Nearly 1.5 million refugees and displaced Iraqis are living in the Kurdistan Region.
Despite the passage of a year since ISIS was declared defeated in the country, fewer and fewer Iraqis are going home because of continued insecurity, problems with housing, difficulties earning a living or accessing basic services, and problems with social cohesion and mental health issues.
The primary goal of UNIDO is to "strengthen economic resilience of Syrian refugees, Iraqi IDPs, returnees and their host communities and promote inclusive sustainable industrial development" within the Kurdistan Region.
"Since moving to Erbil a few months ago, I missed the job and friends that I had had in Baghdad," said Hanaa Thaier, a graduate who relocated to Erbil for a safer life. "It was great to learn new things and make friends."
"This was the first time that training in Adobe Photoshop was within reach for me here," said graduate Nyaz Azad. "I was already interested in design, and now I'm able to build my CV and plan how to sell my design services."
Trainees included youth from Erbil, as well as other youth living in Erbil and surroundings areas as refugees and IDPs.
Unemployment is high among youth across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
"The project is intended to help in the employability of unemployed or underemployed youth," said Peewee Culaton-Viray, chief technical adviser for the Employment and Food Security Project that oversees training for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Eighty-nine youth graduated on Wednesday from intensive courses in graphic arts, mobile phone repair, automobile maintenance, and sewing and fabric arts. Top students also received equipment including laptops, toolkits, and software, and were placed in paid internships to provide real-world jobs experience.
"You must pursue jobs," said Haider Mustafa, Director General of Development Coordination and Cooperation from the Ministry of Planning. "We hope this project helped in that pursuit. Regardless of whether you are immigrants or refugees, you must never give up hope."
Nearly 1.5 million refugees and displaced Iraqis are living in the Kurdistan Region.
Despite the passage of a year since ISIS was declared defeated in the country, fewer and fewer Iraqis are going home because of continued insecurity, problems with housing, difficulties earning a living or accessing basic services, and problems with social cohesion and mental health issues.
The primary goal of UNIDO is to "strengthen economic resilience of Syrian refugees, Iraqi IDPs, returnees and their host communities and promote inclusive sustainable industrial development" within the Kurdistan Region.
"Since moving to Erbil a few months ago, I missed the job and friends that I had had in Baghdad," said Hanaa Thaier, a graduate who relocated to Erbil for a safer life. "It was great to learn new things and make friends."
"This was the first time that training in Adobe Photoshop was within reach for me here," said graduate Nyaz Azad. "I was already interested in design, and now I'm able to build my CV and plan how to sell my design services."
Trainees included youth from Erbil, as well as other youth living in Erbil and surroundings areas as refugees and IDPs.
Unemployment is high among youth across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.