Building the capacity of youth for work

03 July 2017, 12:00AM

Last week marked the start of the second intake of the Internship Programme, coordinated by the Samoa Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Samoa ONE-UN Youth Employment Programme, the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development. 

With the support of the business community and members of the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, 45 youths were placed into businesses for work experience and capacity building – 33 in Upolu and 12 in Savai’i.

Before the programme began, all interns undertook a two day orientation and training conducted by the Samoa Chamber of Commerce training team and coordinated by the Samoa ONE-UN Youth Employment Programme in Upolu 19-20 June and in Savaii 22-23 June. 

The parents were invited to the orientation as they are identified to be a key factor in ensuring the success of the programme. The orientation allowed parents to ask questions and understand that this was a great opportunity for the youth.

The owners and supervisors of participating businesses were also invited to meet the interns and give a word of encouragement to the youth, many of who will be entering the workforce for the first time.

The basic two day training covered work ethics and values, soft skills, writing a CV and basic financial literacy skills. The aim of the training was to prepare the interns with the skills to take into their work placement as well as to what to expect in the workplace. The key message relayed to the interns was the importance of hard work and good attitude. 

The Internship Programme will be run for 10 weeks and its core aim is to expose young men and women to a real work environment to acquire knowledge and skills through practical work experience and allow youth to explore a career interest and build confidence 

The Samoa Chamber of Commerce would like to acknowledge Samoa ONE-UN for the continuous support and partnership through the Youth Employment Programme, in the implementation of Phase 2 of the Internship Programme. Furthermore, this programme would not have been made possible without thefollowing businesses that supported this initiative:

Sails Restaurant, Pacific Forum Line, Schuster Betham Annandale Law Firm, Australia Pacific Technical College, Quantum Contrax, TV3 Broadcasting, Coffee Bean, Scalini’s Restaurant, Sheraton Samoa, Lototau Agency, KofeHaus, Business Systems (Savaii), Vaimoana Seaside Lodge, Treasure House (Savaii), Business of Salafai Association, Amoa Resort, Samoa Stationery and Books (Savaii), Lisa’s Greenhouse, Lui’s Restaurant, Tofa Rosa Tofa

03 July 2017, 12:00AM
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