Young people are too often seen as a target for products, rather than being given the resources to become entrepreneurs, said Elise Van Driel from Rabobank at the Cooperatives and Youth: Empowerment, Employment and Engagement forum during the two day closing ceremony of the IYC in New York.
Elise Van Driel, project leader of the UN IYC at Rabobank, chaired the event and read out a statement from Chairman of the Executive Board of Rabobank, Mr. Piet Moerland.
The Chairman could not make it to New York for the ceremony, but in his statement used the work Rabobank, one of the biggest co-operative financial institutions in the world, had been doing across the Ivory Coast to show how co-ops empower youth.
Reading out the statement Elise said: “As a financial institution we support the rural co-operatives and with that we stimulate education for the children at primary school. Currently we have experts on the ground who provide young farmers with technical education. The ambition is that we grow to a model of ‘farmers training farmers’ and after that to a permanent school.
“At the same time we advise clients of Rabobank from SME to large Corporations to invest in developing countries. From aid to trade.”
Click here to read full article.
Source: Co-operative News website. Author: Emily Barker
