On August 3rd, 2023, the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE – acronym in Portuguese), Rogério Araújo Mendonça, met with the Acting Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Timor-Leste, accompanied by the project officer for the “YEES – Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Skills” project, Hunjai Lee and the Head of UNDP’s Programme Analysis Unit, Izzan Fathurrahman.
During the meeting, UNDP officials briefed the Secretary of State on the status of ongoing projects and discussed new areas of cooperation in promoting youth employment and skills development.
Projects discussed at the meeting included YEES, a project funded by the Republic of Korea and implemented by UNDP, which focuses on developing entrepreneurship and employment skills for youth. YEES aims to empower youth with essential skills, knowledge and competencies for employment, provide career guidance, facilitate access to the labour market and promote job fairs and entrepreneurship training. The project is being implemented in four municipalities, Dili, Baucau, Ermera and Liquiçá.
Since its inception in 2021, the YEES programme has provided internships to 250 young people, 50% of whom have found employment. The programme also includes partnerships with international companies in the Republic of Korea to provide entrepreneurship training to young Timorese after their return to the country, providing them with skills for business creation.
The UNDP Representative also informed that two new projects will be launched in 2024, one in tourism and ecotourism and the other targeting training on solar panels and stimulating entrepreneurship.