Mafita targets 10,000 marginalised youths for empowerment

A UKaid-funded project, Mafita programme, has revealed that no fewer than 10,000 additional youths were screened to benefit from the programme.

Mafita programme is an economic growth programme funded by UKaid aimed to economically empower the marginalized youth such as the Almajiris, girls from Islamiyya and Qur’anic education system, Persons with disabilities, Orphans and vulnerable children and early school leavers whose age ranges from 15-24 with emphasis on girl-child.

This was disclosed by Mafita’s training manage,r Alhaji Abba Isyaku Adamu, during the distribution of working tools to the trained youths under the programme held at its Kano office.

According to him, the distribution of such working tools was done in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to enable the trained youths become self-reliant especially women and those with special needs.

He added that the empowerment of these marginalized youths is through skills training and local economic development support as a way out for these youths hence the name Mafita which he said is a Hausa word which literary means ‘A way out’.

Explaining further, he said the programme will terminate in 2020.

He also noted that combination of poor vocational training infrastructure, lack of skills certification in the informal sector, poor micro and small enterprise incubation facilities, and social exclusion of large segments of society among others have resulted in high unemployment rates, poor growth prospects of businesses and social instability.

According to him, the programme has put in place some strategies which will help to correct the situation.

In his address, Kano state commissioner of Budget and Planning, Alhaji Shehu Na’Allah Kura, stated that the programme has really complemented the state government’s efforts adding that Kano state will do all it can to ensure the sustainability of the programme in the state.