Ten unemployed graduates on Thursday completed United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) career accelerator lab training aimed at equipping graduates with employment development skills.

The unemployed graduates, who completed a three-month internship programme at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, attended a three-day workshop aimed at equipping them with career development growth as they embark on the search for employment.

Speaking at the certificate handover ceremony here, UNDP country representative Alka Bhatia said in effort to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UNDP Namibia has embarked on a career accelerator lab project focusing on strengthening and fast-tracking career development and preparing graduates to secure jobs.

She noted that the workshop included career coaching; mentoring; skills development and networking; noting that the project forms part of UNDP 60 labs globally, a new approach that fits the complexity of current development challenges.

“We have noticed that even though graduates complete internships, it is not necessarily that they get absorbed into the particular job, or sometimes how they are going to embark towards their future. UNDP saw the need to fill the gap by equipping them with skills that will secure them jobs when applying,” she noted.

Nelson Andre, 28, a graduate of informatics from the Namibia University of Science and Technology, said the programme was a great help, especially for individuals seeking employment as it offers knowledge on specific career development and industrial expectations.

“The programme taught us to understand ourselves better by preparing us to go into the market with confidence, especially now that unemployment is very high and competition for securing a job is equally high,” he noted

Source: The Namibian Press Agency