The SSC’s Development Fund (SSC-DF), was established for the benefit of socio-economically disadvantaged persons who are unemployed. Furthermore, grants, bursaries, loans and other forms of financial aid are provided to students. It is through this Fund that N$2 million will be availed for the trainning.

FROM LEFT: Dr Tjama Tjivikua, NUST Vice-Chancellor (Pro Tem) and Milka Mungunda, Executive Officer: Social Security Commission.“Our government has been striving tirelessly to attain the National Development Plan (NDP) goals of inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic growth. It surely cannot succeed in this endeavour without the collective support of the public sector. It is against this backdrop, premised on mutual understanding, that this collaboration bears testimony of our efforts to address the challenges of unemployment,” remarked Milka Mungunda, Executive Officer: SSC.

Dr Tjama Tjivikua, the NUST Vice-Chancellor (Pro Tem) said: “NUST has a track record of engagements of this nature. About four years ago, NUST in partnership with the Overseas Development Cooperation (ODC) and its international partners – the Lempäälä / Kangasala Municipalities in Finland and Kristallen in Sweden, trained 30 youths in gemmology, jewellery-making and entrepreneurship in Keetmanshoop. To date, some of these youths are employed in the gemstone sector while two of them are now in engaged in a full-fledged business of producing jewellery with financial support from ODC and business development support from NUST’s Centre of Entrepreneurial Development (CED).”

Additionally, the aim of this training programme is to empower unemployed youth with the necessary skills to either find employment or start their own businesses.