Adebayo Adenrele
A Social Impact Opportunity, Youth Agency Market Place (YOMA), is set to tackle unemployment among Nigerian youths by equipping them with the right skills to become employable globally.
According to UNICEF Programme Specialist, Joannes Yimbesalu, the platform was co-created by African Young people to equip young people by giving them the right tools, skills, and capacity to become productive members of society.
He stated this during a 2-day media dialogue on “Digital Learning Platforms”, organized by National Orientation Agency (NOA) Lagos State and in collaboration with United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
Joannes added that the Platform has close to 200,000 users with 87% of these users being Nigerian youths
He further stated that platforms like YOMA are one of the innovative solutions of Generation Unlimited a public-private youth partnership with a mission to skill 1.8 billion young people globally and connect them to opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and social impact. In Nigeria, UNICEF’s GenU 9JA aims to reach 20 million young people with skills and livelihood opportunities by 2030
In his words, “There are offline models which we are trying to support and deploy, and we keep testing these models because it’s not that easy, but we are working with our key stakeholders to ensure that no child is left behind.
“Many young people complete school but can’t find quality jobs, what we do is to convene major stakeholders, including the Government, and private sectors, and most importantly young people to design the future they care about by giving them the tools, skills, the capacity to become productive members of society.
“We are giving young people agency, equipping them rightly to become employable not just in Nigeria, globally.
“YOMA was co-created by African young people, and currently we have about 200,000 users on the platform, and in Nigeria, have 87% of those users.
“Our goal is to equip 20 million young people between the age of 10 and 24 by 2030.”