IDB Launches New Employment Opportunities Project

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today launched the New Employment Opportunities (NEO) project which is aimed at increasing employment among some 10,000 vulnerable youth between ages 17 and 29.

NEO is set to provide better training services, career counseling and critical information about labour supply and demand to participants.

The project will also facilitate mentorship from professionals and a public-private partnership where one hundred employers will provide internships and jobs for vulnerable youth.

IDB country representative for Jamaica, Therese Turner-Jones, says she expects the programme to provide much needed skills that are lacking in Jamaica’s labour force.

NEO will partner with the ministries of Education, Youth and Labour as well as agencies such as the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the National Youth Service and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

NEO’s implementation is estimated at some US$9.3 million.