The Department of Youth in the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sentebale Foundation.

The signing took place at the ministry’s premises on Thursday in Maseru. The MoU aims at assisting youth graduates to access professional opportunities.

The Principal Secretary of Youth, Dr ‘Mamoeketsi Ntho thanked Sentebale Foundation for this partnership, saying this will help the Department of Youth to achieve its mandate.

Dr Ntho said the objective of the programme is to place not less than 500 youth in different sectors, adding that Sentebale has made a massive contribution that will enable the department to achieve its objective.

She said in their database, they have more than 1200 graduates who need to be placed so to gain much-needed experience to excel in a working environment when they get hired.

In conclusion, she appealed to other sectors to help the Department of youth in eradicating high youth unemployment.

On the same token, the Country Director of Sentebale Foundation, Mrs. Ntholi Malefetsane said the signing of the MoU will support the youth programme in the Department of Youth to place youth in different ministries for professional opportunities.

Mrs. Malefetsane said they learned that the department they are going to support has a programme that provides internship opportunities for youth, noting that they advised themselves to support the department instead of starting a new similar programme.

She said what they are hoping for is to support the existing programme so that lessons coming out of this partnership continue to improve the programme.

Sentebale Foundation has supported the Department of Youth with M1.2 million and 40 youth graduates will benefit from the newly formed partnership.

By Staff Reporter: Noliwe Velaphe