By Jamesetta D Williams
MONROVIA – Two strategic institutions of government, Ministry of Labour (MOL) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS), have begun a strategic partnership aimed at increasing employment opportunities and strengthening workforce development for young people across Liberia.
The collaboration was formally launched during the first inter-ministerial meeting on job creation held in Monrovia, where senior officials from both ministries gathered to discuss practical solutions to unemployment and youth economic empowerment.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Labour Minister Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, Sr. described the engagement as the start of a coordinated effort to assess labor market challenges and develop sustainable strategies to create jobs for Liberians.
According to Minister Kruah, the partnership will focus on identifying opportunities through government programs and public-private sector collaboration while encouraging businesses to hire and train young Liberians.
He added that discussions will also explore the use of local resources, international development grants, and investment opportunities to support job creation initiatives.
The Labour Minister noted that one of the key objectives of the collaboration is to align employment programs under the Ministry of Labour with youth development initiatives being implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, including the Government Vacation Job Program.
He further disclosed that the Ministry of Labour has established ambitious employment targets for the year and intends to work closely with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to connect young people with available job opportunities identified through the ministry’s employment programs.
For her part, Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Atty. Cornelia Kruah, welcomed the initiative and emphasized the importance of closer cooperation between the two institutions.
She highlighted Liberia’s youthful population, noting that nearly 70 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 35, while those between 15 and 35 years account for approximately 43 percent of the population.
As a result, she said, youth remain the backbone of Liberia’s workforce and should be central to all employment and economic development strategies.
Minister Kruah stressed that regardless of whether jobs are created through private sector investments or public sector recruitment, young people will remain the primary source of labor for the country’s economy.
She also underscored the importance of expanding Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs, describing them as essential tools for improving workforce readiness and increasing employability among young people.
While acknowledging several government-led employment initiatives, the Youth and Sports Minister observed that many programs remain fragmented and lack coordination, often leading to duplication of efforts among government ministries, agencies, and state-owned enterprises.
To address this challenge, she called for a more unified approach to youth employment programming, including the consolidation of vacation job programs and related initiatives under a coordinated national framework that would allow government to accurately track and measure jobs created for young people each year.
As a major outcome of the meeting, both ministries agreed to establish a joint technical committee tasked with developing policies, implementation plans, and strategies to guide the collaboration moving forward.
The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment from both ministries to work together in advancing youth employment, workforce development, and economic empowerment efforts aimed at improving opportunities for young Liberians nationwide.
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