The A Shipena Secondary School career fair on Friday targeted delegates, exhibitors, learners, teachers and community members to interact with professionals from the vocational training industry and self-employed youth.
It sought to showcase those who make a living by using their talents and self-taught vocational skills.
Governor of the Khomas Region, Laura McLeod-Katjirua added that the event tied in well with the 2018 National Waste Management Strategy, which aims to make Namibia a leading country in Africa in terms of solid waste management standards by 2028.
She expressed thanks to the European Union for the grant finance to the tune of N.dollars 36.8 million through the project titled ‘Improving solid waste management in Windhoek’.
“The initiative is implemented via co-operation between the City of Windhoek (CoW) and sister City of Bremen (Germany), to improve solid waste management efforts in Windhoek,” she said.
Also in attendance, John Pandeni Constituency Councillor Shaalukeni Moonde highlighted that the career fair is an integral part of the objectives and key performance areas of the constituency strategic plan on community development and youth employment.
“As a constituency, we continuously strive to enrich and involve young people in the process of development,” Moonde said.
“When we invest in the youth, we make a long-term investment. Together with CoW, we have seen a considerable need for the development and promotion of innovative ideas for vocational training career paths and opportunities for young people to overcome current economic conditions,” he added.
It is important to promote the innovative use of recycling ideas to generate income, which solves the problems of waste management and poverty alleviation simultaneously, he continued.
The CoW has a school recycling competition programme which is an effort to raise awareness and encourage behavioural and attitude change among school learners.
The project targets 45 schools from low-income and informal areas, of which 10 are pre-primary schools, 15 primary schools, and 20 secondary schools.
The programme strives to promote the City’s awareness initiative through the concept called ‘Catch them Young’.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency