The new offices being opened will provide skills trainiAng and microloans to hundreds of young people in those areas. Weeks says each of the offices will directly impact 600 young Liberians in its first year. Funded by Chevron, the Burt Family Foundation, Manifest Foundation and the Alabaster Fund Youth Action International’s new initiative are a part of the organizations scale up plan. According to Kimmie Weeks, the organization intends to open additional offices and larger scale projects in Grand Gedeh, Nimba, and Lofa by the end of 2012. In addition, Youth Action International has tripled its programs in Monrovia and is opening sub offices in heavily populated communities to provide training and opportunities for young people.

Newly appointed Country Representative for Youth Action International Mr. Daniel Thomas elaborated that the organization is heavily invested in a wide range of programs to help break young Liberians out of poverty. He noted: “we understand that young Liberians are going through a lot of difficulties and we are bringing a lot of innovative projects to break this cycle.”

Founded in 2005 by Kimmie Weeks, Youth Action International is headquartered in the United States and has a mission to provide education, health care, and economic empowerment to children and young people. The organization has impacted over 200,000 people in Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Uganda. Weeks says Youth Action International will expand its work to Guinea and Ivory Coast at the end 2012.

In June 2010, a week before my graduation from the African Leadership Academy and my return to Liberia, I contacted Kimmie to volunteer to work for Youth Action International in the summer before heading off to College (I ended up staying a whole year). He accepted my offer. I arrived in Liberia on June 13. I started work on the 14. My first task was to help the graduation ceremony of the Center
for Women’s Empowerment; one YAI’s many projects. My second task was to help select a new batch of students to enroll at the Center. My third task was to organize an event for the women at the Center and influential women in Liberia.
This event ended up as a mentorship program and I was in charge of it. I organized meeting with these women senators and ministers and our students on a regular basis. I cannot remember the exact sequence in which my other tasks came but I can sit back today and point out the leadership lessons and
experiences that each of these tasks taught me and how they are panning out in my life.

Over the last one year, I met many people influential people because of Youth Action International. I met many ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. I met people who stories have humbled me and inspired me to work harder. I have become a more confident writer and speaker. I learned to see compliments as an opportunity to grow. I learned teamwork and diversity. I learned to use
negative feedback to improve. I learned to be optimistic even when the chances of success were so slim. I was introduced to the “real world” that people always talked about.
I did not have a specific job at YAI and it was because of this “free role”, as we would say in Soccer, I was able to learn the many things I know today. I wrote, edited, and delivered letters and documents. I created budgets, attended programs, made flight reservations, proxy for Kimmie, delivered stories to media institutions for publication, wrote proposal and did just about everything I was told to do. At times, I felt some of the stuff I did were burdensome but I learned to look beyond myself. I learned to work for others.
In March, I received college admission with full scholarship. Words will never describe how thankful I am to Youth Action International for assisting me in the process. The encouragement, guidance and letter of recommendation played a major part. A card from my admissions package read, “ Your dedication to Youth Action International and the youth of Liberia is awesome”.
I am truly thankful for everything.

Through the program, Youth Action International will open three new Centers for Women’s Empowerment.  Each center will train several hundred women in vocational training, life skills.    The women will also benefit from YAI’s specially designed empowerment curriculum that includes counseling, workshops on small business enterprise, marketing, adult literacy and month long apprenticeships.  At the end of each program, the women will be formed into cooperatives and will receive micro-credit loans to start new businesses.

Other young people will benefit from a component of the initiative which will work with youth in the poorest communities to develop community cooperatives and village savings schemes that will help community youth either start new businesses or improve on existing economic sustainability initiatives.    Taking advantage of this expansion to rural Liberia, YAI will also offer its workshops on
entrepreneurship, village savings loan schemes and small business enterprise to hundreds of other community members.

The new program is funded by several of YAI’s committed partners including the Alabaster Foundation, The Burt Family Foundation, and the Manifest Foundation with a generous commitment from Chevron.

This year, the charity with the most votes will receive a $1 million grant, the runner up will receive $500,000, the 3rd place charity will receive $250,000,
and the 4th and 5th place charities will each receive $125,000 grants.

There are only 25 organizations selected so we have a good chance to win, but it won’t be easy. That’s why we need a number of dedicated volunteers who can help us spread the word and get votes once the competition begins.

To sign up for this cause, visit: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e4wtv5hwgsxj5um8/start and fill up the online volunteer form.

 Youth Action International (YAI) in collaboration with the US Embassy in Monrovia today announced a major new initiative geared at promoting non-violence amongst youth during and after Liberia’s upcoming general and presidential elections. The program, which is called the 2011 Electoral Violence Prevention Initiative will include various youth peace forums, community engagement programs, and will disseminate messages of peace and non-violence using the mass media.

Formally announcing the initiative, YAI’s Executive Director Dr. Kimmie L. Weeks said the project was timely and would play an essential role in facilitating discussions and promoting actions for peace amongst young people. He observed: “Liberia’s population is predominantly young people; therefore, any chance of preserving peace in this country is in the hands of youth. This is why we have tailored this entire program to target the younger generation.”

Dr. Weeks outlined that the media portion of the project has already begun rolling out and will be followed by a major Youth Peace Forum in Monrovia and various community engagement campaigns. “The whole idea is to reach out to the youth wherever they are: in their communities, on air, online, and off air,” Weeks said.

The US Embassy through its Public Affairs Section is a key partner in the initiative. Public Affairs Officer Dehab Ghebreab said, “we support youth activities through our ongoing educational and cultural programs and we are delighted to partner with Youth Action International to promote peaceful, free, and fair elections.”

The new initiative joins many other projects geared at preventing post election violence, however, this initiative stands out because of its multi-pronged approach of using every information dissemination tool to specifically target young people.

Youth Action International designed this program for youths in Grand Bassa because the county had no higher education institutions and young people finishing high school found it difficult to obtain jobs with mining companies due to their lack of computer skills.
In addition to the computer courses, students received professional and career development training to help them succeed in their jobs.

Funded by the Youth Employment Network (YEN), the International Labor Organization (ILO), World Ventures and the Alabaster Foundation, The Center for Women’s Empowerment is a program designed to provide skills training, life skills and microloans, to young women from the poorest communities in Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Youth Action International Center’s for Women’s Empowerment is a carefully developed and designed program aimed at meeting the needs of young women who otherwise would have no sources for decent and dignified income. The full program was developed in consultation with experts from Amherst College Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Suffolk University, UMASS Boston, UMASS Dartmouth and Forabay College (Sierra Leone) and the University of Liberia. This dynamic group included experts from a wide range of fields including adult literacy, alternative counseling, post-traumatic stress therapy, group therapy, finance, music, dance, art and microfinance.

Youth Action International has run its Center for Women’s Empowerment in Liberia and Sierra Leone for the last three years and has graduated close to 600 young women who have gone on to be employed with local businesses or start businesses of their own.

Dr. Kimmie Weeks received the degree: Doctor of Humane Letters (Litterarum Humanarum Doctor; D.H.L.; or L.H.D). In a letter to Weeks, the school said it was honoring him “…not merely for impressive humanitarian achievements, but also especially for believing in the transformative power of education and activism across borders.” Although usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study and passing of examinations are waived, Amherst College confers honorary degrees and extends all rights and privileges as a substantive degree.

Delivering a special message to the school on Saturday, May 21st, Kimmie Weeks said he was honored to receive the degree and admitted that the honor had come as a surprise. He told the audience: “this is something I did not imagine would happen to me until I was 60 years old or so. I am truly humbled and thankful for this recognition.” Dr. Weeks went on to call for African nations to make significant investments in early childhood development calling it “the single most important investment in Africa’s future.”

Weeks, who was recently also named a Global Leader for the World Forum on Early Childhood Development, used his speech to call on Liberia’s Ministry of Education to invest its resources in Early Childhood Development, saying that a nation that did not focus on building strong foundations for the future was bound to repeat a “vicious circle of failure.”

Founded in 1821, Amherst is a highly selective, coeducational liberal arts college with approximately 1,700 students from most of the 50 states and more than 30 other countries. It is considered one of America’s best educational institutions. Kimmie Weeks set a record as the youngest person to receive an honorary doctorate in the school’s 200 year history.

Mr. Kimmie Weeks, Executive Director of Youth Action International called the ratification of the African Youth Charter a major victory for youths across Liberia. Speaking on the lawn of the Legislature, Kimmie Weeks said: “this is a historic day for the youths of Liberia. I am extremely happy that we have Senators who prioritize youth and today they have proven this commitment.” Kimmie Weeks praised Senators who actively supported the bill including: Senator Jewel Taylor, Senator Geraldine Doe, Senator Blamo Nelson, Senator Roland Karn, Senator Lahai Lasanna, Senator John Ballout, Senator Nathanial Innis, and Senator Joseph Nagbe.

Mr. Kwame Ross, President of LINSU and a key player in the lobbying of the passage of the bill attended the Senate session on Tuesday and Thursday. Mr. Ross called the passage of the African Youth Charter an important achievement for young people. For his part, FLY President Augustus Zayzay hailed the passage of the bill as astonishing and timely move. Mr. Zayzay said that FLY and its partners will now work actively to popularize the bill and ensure that young people across the country are aware of the contents.

At least 200 young people gathered at the Senate chamber on Thursday to show support for the passage of the bill. The students said they had gathered because they felt the bill was important to their development and wanted to ensure that they were a part of the process to get the charter passed. Student Cornelius Gray said: “I am happy that I was a part of this process. I will be able to tell my children that I fought for something that benefits them. I am a proud Liberian today.

The African Youth Chater was passed by the African Union in 2006 in Banjul, Gambia. The Liberian government signed the bill. Ratification of the African Youth Charter now makes it a law in Liberia. Youth groups say with the ratification of the African Youth Charter the status of young people will rapidly improve over the next several years.