Mahela and Sangakkara launch Career Guidance and Youth Empowerment Programme

29 June 2012 👁 5,710 views

International cricketing stars Mr. Mahela Jayawardena and Mr. Kumar Sangakkara joined youth representatives from Connect Lanka, Training For Trusteeship (TFT) programme of the Weeramantry International Centre for Peace Education and Research (WICPER), Rotaract Clubs of ANC, Colombo Up-Town and Colombo North to launch the Career Guidance and Youth Empowerment [CGYE] programme, which is endorsed and supported by the National Youth Services Council [NYSC], International Organisation for Migration [IOM] and the United Nations Volunteers [UNV] Programme.

At the event which was held yesterday (28 June) at the Taj Samudra Hotel, the websites of the CGYE programme and the Connect Lanka Youth Movement were also launched.

“CGYE is not just another career guidance programme, it is a prime example of youth from various backgrounds enabling opportunities for fellow youth”, noted Mr. Varuna Ponnamperuma, Project Manager CGYE and Member of Connect Lanka movement.

The main objective of this programme is to create opportunities for youth to connect with the appropriate avenues in their effort to find suitable careers or pursue desired areas of interest.

This joint venture is an effort to build a sustainable model to address youth employment issues, where the output can be used by the government in youth and skills development.

“Empowering youth is a key for sustainable development in Sri Lanka, and the role education has in this process is very large”, noted Mr. Mahela Jayawardena, Captain of the National Cricket Team.

“I hope education institutions will join hands with these youngsters by partnering with this project and thereby empower the future leaders of our motherland”, he added.

“The opportunity for the private sector firms to reach out to untapped youth potential through CGYE is extremely exciting”, adds Mr. Kumar Sangakkara, National Cricketer.

“Today’s youth are looking for challenging new opportunities and the firms in the private sector are well equipped to cater to this demand”, he added.

“CGYE can provide a good grassroots level platform for corporate involvement, so I invite all private sector firms to support these youngsters in their work”, Mr. Sangakkara further added.

(Pics by Kushan Pathiraja)