The projects were presented this Wednesday, in Luanda, by the four Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that will carry out, over the next 36 months, actions in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Malanje, Zaire, Cunene, Namibe, Huambo, Huíla, Icolo and Bengo and Cabinda.
According to the EU representative in Angola, Rosário Bento Pais, in February 2024, the organization launched a call for proposals, worth 4.8 million euros, specifically to support young people, with attention to gender issues, minorities and people with disabilities, particularly in peri-urban areas (in transition between rural and urban spaces) and rural areas, calling for balance and social justice.
Rosário Bento Pais said that this is the second support for projects for youth, after the first launched in 2019 with a budget allocation of around 2.9 million euros.
Speaking to journalists, the EU ambassador to Angola highlighted the very positive results of ongoing projects, with "a very direct impact on the population and especially on the most vulnerable groups - women and children".
The diplomat said that youth in Angola is a major challenge, as they make up 60 percent of the total population, aged under 24: "this already shows exactly the need to invest in everything that supports young people, both in education and in entrepreneurship, so that they can have a healthy, sustainable life and find employment."
The EU representative in Angola assured that the organization will continue to increasingly finance this type of project, and a new call for project proposals for civil society should be prepared from the middle of the year.
"Today we are one of the few or the only ones who continue to finance these projects and it is very important, because no country can develop without the support of civil society and local authorities, who are actors in development and governance, because the State cannot be everywhere," she said.
"Jovens Hoje Líderes Agora" is the project to be implemented by Mosaiko, Institute for Citizenship, in partnership with Leigos para o Desenvolvimento, lasting four years, in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela and Malanje, for a target group of 620 people, aged between 15 and 35 years, with a view to their training in the areas of leadership, entrepreneurship, local development and active citizenship.
ADRA – Acção para o Desenvolvimento Rural e Ambiente, in partnership with NCA – Ajuda da Igreja Norueguesa, will implement over three years, in the provinces of Cunene, Namibe, Huambo, and Malanje, the "Pro-Juci", a project aimed at promoting civic participation and the socioeconomic inclusion of young people and adolescents in vulnerable situations.
"RedEmpreende", a project by the Spanish NGO Codespa, will be carried out in the provinces of Luanda, Huíla and Cunene, and should support a thousand young people, including ethnic minorities, namely the Khoisan community, with entrepreneurship actions for a sustainable future, promoting techniques that develop business ideas in young people, in addition to technical and financial support.
"Nossa Voz Nosso Futuro" – a project to be developed over three years by the Italian NGO VIS, in partnership with the Salesians of Dom Bosco, present in Angola for 30 years – will be developed in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda, Zaire and Moxico. The project should directly benefit around 3000 people in situations of social vulnerability, including young people with albinism, street teenagers and girls in situations of exploitation.
