The International Labor Organization (ILO) through the United Nations Human Security Trust Fund Project has begun the training of another fifty-two vulnerable Liberians on business management skills in Saclepia, Nimba County.
A press release says the selected participants are from Bahnand Gbanquoiin, Nimba County, as part of the six project communities in the north-central region of Liberia.
They are being trained on several business management skills with a focus on how to start and improve their businesses in their communities.
The training began on Tuesday, 28 March 2023, and will end on Saturday, 1 April 2023.
ILO Country Coordinator for Liberia, Salif Massalay
spoke on behalf of Dr. Vanessa L. Phalaat, ILO Country Director for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS at the start of the training.
Salif Massalay said the training is part of phase two of the "Start and Improve Your Business" (SIYB) program intended to transform the lives of vulnerable people in rural Liberia, especially in the hard-to-reach areas.
Mr. Massalay explained that the participants will receive start-up capital in the amount of two-hundred United States Dollars each to start a small business in their communities as a means of empowerment, and to apply the knowledge acquired to improve their lives.
"We are not just training you and [letting] you go or forget about you. We will give you [a] small amount of money to start a business," Mr. Massalay encouraged the participants.
He admonished them to take seriously the knowledge being provided to acquire the necessary skills needed to effectively manage and improve their businesses.
He continued that there will be more support for the targeted participants based on their outcome from the start-up capital given to them.
"I encourage all of you to take the training seriously because when you learn all the things we are teaching you, you will be able to properly use the money we are giving you to grow your business."
"There will be more benefits for you on this project, but it will only come if you can manage the first one well," he said.
The training is being conducted by two SIYB consultants including Mr. Alieu L. Kemokai - Lead Consultant and Dr. Moses Zolue of the World Bank in Liberia.
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Participants are being trained on topics such as generating business ideas, the characteristics of an entrepreneur, business planning, marketing, and record-keeping, among others.
The training brought together representatives from Government Ministries including Horace D. Zaway from the Ministry of Finance, and Czar Parley from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Phases one and two of the SIYB project target 264 vulnerable community members to benefit from entrepreneurial skills training on how to start and manage their businesses.
The beneficiaries were selected from six of the project communities (Bahn and Gbanquoi, Botota and Forkelleh, and Zorzor and Yealla) in Nimba, Bong, and Lofa Counties, respectively.
The objective of the step-down training is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of vulnerable community members in the targeted communities to start and improve their businesses.
The intervention is being carried out within the framework of a Joint United Nations Project titled: "Building Resilience of Youth, Women, and Vulnerable Groups through Social Protection Floor in Liberia, using ICT."
It aims to address the complex multi-sectorial and inter-connected challenges of human insecurities particularly food, social, and economic issues for the most vulnerable and neglected populations of the North-Central region of Liberia at the community level.
Five United Nations agencies including the Food and Agricultural Organization, International Labor Organization, World Food Program, United Nations Development Program, and UN Women are implementing this project.
