The Meru government has made a milestone by becoming the first devolved unit in the country to form a functional youth programme, aimed at addressing runaway unemployment rate and various vices affecting the youngsters. Early this month, the Meru Youth Service (MYS) recruited 1000 youth who were competitively recruited at the ward level from each of the 45 wards across the County. The program is expected to absorb more youth in the subsequent recruitment drives with the Governor targeting 2000 recruits come next year. From next week, the first lot of 500 young men and women will be enrolled at the Meru National Polytechnic to undertake various technical courses. Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi, who spoke at the close of a two-day youth conference early this month, said the youths will be trained in masonry, carpentry, welding and painting to bridge the current skills gap in the informal sector. We have a shortage of trained electricians or painters who can do a good job. This is the problem we want to address by training young men and women who will join the informal sector to provide the needed skills, the county boss said. The remaining 500 recruits will be engaged in Community health care, urban development, labour-intensive agricultural and infrastructural projects, environmental rehabilitation and conservation as well as entertainment. They will be paid Sh400 per day. Governor Murungi said his government would set aside money in the various departments to engage the youth instead of contracting labour from outside the County. I really believe in young people. I believe that young people are the strength, the power and the hope of this nation. That is why my government deliberately decided to establish the MYS to deal with the myriad challenges affecting the youth, in a more sustainable and structured manner, Mr Murungi said. To ensure sustainability and continuity of the programme, the county assembly has passed a bill that will guide the MYS operations. The county has allocated Sh100 million for the ambitious programme that he hopes will address joblessness among the youth in the county. Meru Youth Service steering committee chairman Dr BundiKarau said the recruits will undergo more training during the August holiday to receive business skills, mindset change and financial literacy. The county is partnering with the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the UN-Habitat among other organizations. UN habitat Deputy Executive Director AisaKirabo said they will support the MYS programme through training in construction and life skills. We will also develop a one-stop youth resource and generative space for Meru youth to gather and to access services and training, said the UN-Habitat Deputy Executive Director. FAO Country Director Gabriel Rugarema said for the project to succeed, there was a need to empower the youth. There are huge opportunities for the youth especially in agribusiness but they should be facilitated by being allocated land to engage in farming activities, said Mr Rugarema. Public Service Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia said the County government of Meru has taken a decisive step to align its programmes to those of the National Government and in line in the Big Four agenda. Prof Kobia hailed the project as a noble initiative that will solve problems facing the youth including joblessness and drug abuse and urged other counties to emulate the Meru example. The idea of establishing the MYS and structuring its design alongside the NYS empowerment model is excellent and laudable. You are working with a model that is tested and tried. We would like to recognize and honour the pioneering spirit shown by Meru County in pursuing a partnership with the national government, she said. The program has also received praise and overwhelming local and international backing. MYS has also received an endorsement from the Turkish Corporation Agency (TIKA).