KYEOP set for resumption as 3,000 Nakuru youth apply for Phase 5

Over 3,000 youth in Nakuru County have applied for training and business support under Phase 5 of the Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities Project(KYEOP).

KYEOP is a five-year project by government and World Bank that seeks to increase employment and earning opportunities among targeted young people across Kenya.

State Department of youth Principal Secretary Julius Korir said the KYEOP program is set to resume next month after a 6-month hiatus occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Sh15 billion World Bank-funded project will resume with Cycle 4 which was halted midway and will also see the commencement of Phase 5,” he said.

While on a tour of various youth-led projects in Nakuru County, Mr Korir said at least 5,670 youth from the region have enrolled for the KYEOP project since its inception in 2017.

4,481 youth have completed the training benefited from business support through Sh57 million grants and business development services spearheaded by Micro Small Enterprise Authority.

Among the beneficiaries were 66 persons living with disabilities- 39 male and 27 females- which brought the total number of beneficiaries of grants to 1724 youth.

Beneficiaries are picked through a computerized random selection program. Among the beneficiaries in the first 4 phases were 66 persons living with disabilities- 39 male and 27 females.

Currently, KYEOP is being implemented in 17 counties across the republic with the government planning to have it extended to the rest of the counties based on the availability of funding and partners.