Distribution of agricultural kits to unemployed youth

By Sofia VANDENBROECK | LNC

(Bangui, July 24, 2026 | LNC) As part of the "Support for the Empowerment of Youth Aged 18–35" project, the NGO URU distributed agricultural kits to unemployed and out-of-school youth, as well as people living with disabilities, in the Ombella-M’Poko and Lobaye prefectures. A ceremony was held for this occasion on Tuesday, July 21, in the Cité Liberté neighborhood of Bangui’s 10th arrondissement. The event was attended by government officials, technical and financial partners, and the beneficiaries themselves. Overall, the project aims to reduce unemployment rates and restore hope to unemployed and out-of-school youth through agriculture. For URU, this initiative is part of the "Seeds of Hope" (*Graines d’espoir*) program, which involves distributing agricultural kits to young beneficiaries while fostering community support and stakeholder engagement in their empowerment. The organization has relaunched its activities by initially targeting the Ombella-M’Poko and Lobaye prefectures. The initiative is accompanied by a two-day awareness-raising event held in these two target areas. The first leg took place in Cité Liberté, where around twenty market gardeners gathered at the neighborhood chief’s reception hall, waiting to receive their agricultural kits. One of the beneficiaries, Sana Yandjeke, could not contain his joy after receiving his equipment: "I am overjoyed to finally see the NGO URU come to support us with all this wonderful agricultural equipment." "In fact, this isn’t the first time they’ve supported us. It’s an NGO unlike any other; they take a real interest in us market gardeners. The first time was back in 2021. At the time, we thought it was just a one-off project, but today, they are still helping us. I am truly happy." Ed Jean Siopathis, Director of the NGO URU, explains that this effort builds upon initiatives his organization had already launched: "Indeed, this is a continuation of what we achieved in 2021. Today, we are providing shovels, hoes, watering cans, and various other farming tools. And it won’t stop there. To start, we limited our area of ​​intervention to Ombella-M’Poko and Lobaye, but with the support of our partners, we plan to gradually expand to other locations." Rodrigue Ombopiako, the neighborhood chief of Cité Liberté, also shared a few words: "First, I would like to thank the NGO URU for this invaluable assistance. It touches us deeply. I encourage the young people to use this equipment to farm and grow their businesses—and, above all, not to resell it." After the ceremony, a delegation from URU, accompanied by the beneficiaries, visited the various market gardening sites to see the work already underway on the ground.

LNC

Date: July 24, 2026

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