The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Ltd has facilitated the skilling of youth from project-affected households as part of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).
These vocational skills are intended to boost members of these affected households' capacity to earn an income and improve their resilience that may arise after displacement through self-employment or getting paid employment.
Of the 754 students graduating from affected households in Hoima, Kakumiro, Kikuube, Kyankwanzi, and Mubende districts 249 are female students.
They were enrolled at St. Simon Peter's Vocational Institute in Hoima, St Peters Vocational Training Institute in Mubende, Buhimba Technical Institute in Kikuube and Millennium Business School in Hoima district.
The students have completed 3 months of Vocational training and 1 month of internship.
A total of 1,020 youth have been trained from project-affected households along the entire Pipeline route
These have received skills in the disciplines of tailoring and garment design, welding, building and construction, carpentry and joinery, motor vehicle and motorcycle mechanics, hairdressing, catering, and electrical installations.
The youth will receive starter kits that suit their specific vocational programs to start their journey to employment.
This initiative is part of the company's commitment to empower affected households through a livelihood restoration program, aiming to restore, transition, and improve their livelihoods by utilizing available household resources post-resettlement
The objective of the Livelihood Restoration Program is to provide project-affected persons whose livelihoods or income levels are adversely affected an opportunity to improve, or at least restore, their means of income-earning capacity, production levels, and standards of living
Livelihood restoration is being implemented in two phases which include provision of transitional support to households as a short-term measure to support their food security in terms of dry rations/ food baskets within the first 6-12 months as soon as the affected Households vacate land.
So far, 1949/2257 eligible households that were heavily impacted are receiving food baskets.
The second phase is meant to support project affected households in food security and income, the project enrolls them in agricultural improvement programs, enterprise development, and vocational training for eligible households.
So far, a total of 2938/3400 eligible households are receiving agriculture productivity improvement support across the 10 districts.
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This form of support is through practical hands-on training to enhance project affected persons knowledge on the use of better technologies, crop production methods, and animal-rearing practices.
These project affected persons are also supported with starter packs with better technologies like improved seed/seedlings of maize, beans, banana, cassava, and coffee as well as pasture for cattle that are also tolerant to water stress environments, have moderately shorter growing cycles, and are resistant to diseases.
These project affected households are also being linked to local suppliers of these technologies, equipment, and produce buyers to forge long-term and sustainable relationships that will help sustain the gains so far achieved.
