By Staff Reporter, LUSAKA
Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development Permanent Secretary Agness Musunga says there is need for an institution with competent people to professionally manage Youth Development Fund (YDF).
Speaking when she appeared before the parliamentary committee on Youth and Sport on Tuesday, Ms Musunga said her ministry will establish a financial institution to manage YDF to help reduce administration costs.
Ms Musunga disclosed that the Auditor General’s report states that the administration cost for the YDF for 2015 has increased compared to 2014.
“We have noted that there is need for an institutional arrangement with capacity to take over the handling of the YDF. The administration costs have increased because the number of beneficiaries has also increased, so as the fund,” she said.
Ms Musunga said the ministry is exploring all possibilities of establishing the institution and is receiving submissions from stakeholders.
She said the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) and Ministry of Finance have approved the formation of the institution but that the only concern is that it might limit accessibility to the fund by the youth.
And when questioned on whether the ministry has failed to manage the YDF or not, Ms Musunga said the ministry has been facing challenges because it does not have representation at district level.
She said YDF only disbursed at provincial level.
Ms Musunga appealed to district commissioners to come in and ensure that they identify youths so that everyone is catered for.
“We have also noticed that most beneficiaries are from provincial centres, but we have seen some change from 2014 when even new districts benefited from the fund,” she said.
Ms Musunga said the ministry plans to form monitoring and evaluation centres in all districts to oversee the distribution of YDF but that this requires a lot of funds to be implemented.
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