1000 people in volcanic red zone begin Life Skills Training

One thousand participants in areas from Colonaire to Fancy within the volcanic red zone who were negatively impacted by the April 2021 volcanic eruptions, last week began training in skills to help equip them for work.

They are involved in the Life Skills Programme which is a sub-component of the Volcanic Eruption Emergency Project (VEEP).

Life Skills Programme Facilitator with participants at a workshop in Owia

The Life Skills Programme is designed to provide participants with the foundational and socio-economical skills that will “allow them to transition into the work force and become active members of their respective communities”, a release from the Emergency Project states.

The participants were assessed and selected by the Social Development Unit within the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Youth, Housing and Informal Human Settlement.

Ten facilitators are delivering the skills training programme at 10 centres across the north-east corridor of the Red Zone (Colonaire to Fancy) for a duration of three months.

The training is divided into eight modules, which include: communication, decision-making, coping with emotions and time management, among others.

The Life Skills Programme is included in Component 1 of the VEEP, which is financed by the World Bank and co-financed by the European Union-funded Caribbean Regional Resilience Building Facility.

The implementing agency for VEEP is the Economic Planning Division, which operates under the remit of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology.