PRESS RELEASE UN TEAMS UP WITH FURSA FOR GLOBAL GOALS

UN and Fursa embark on partnership to reach over 10,000 youth

“This has been great. I had no idea about the Global Goals before today. I think they are great for Tanzania and the world and I’m glad that the UN and Fursa are targeting young people like myself because I think more young people really need to learn about them. When you have artists like Niki wa Pili championing the Global Goals you know that the Global Goals really are for all of us”said Mwasu Isiaka, one of the attendants.

Dodoma - 12 November 2016: The latest leg of the United Nation’s awareness-raising campaign on the Global Goals in Tanzania sees the UN and Fursa commence a partnership which will reach youth in three regions starting with Dodoma, followed by Kigoma and finally Dar es Salaam. Having received extensive training from the UN on the Global Goals, Fursa will use their platform to educate youth on the Global Goals by conducting awareness-raising seminars in which over 10,000 youth are expected to participate. The seminars will increase Tanzanian youth’s understanding of the Global Goals and their responsibilities in the implementation of the Goals.

UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, who himself has reached out to thousands of youth in multiple regions across the country this year, commended Fursa for their initiative expressing that it is important for youth to be engaged with the Global Goals.

“As I have travelled across Tanzania educating youth about the Global Goals, I have realized that there are so many young people who are excited about playing a role in realizing the goals. We need to let youth know that the Global Goals are not just for the government or the UN, they are for everybody and that the Global Goals will not be reached in 2030 without very active participation of young people,” he said.

Also speaking at the launch of the initiative in Dodoma, FURSA founder, Mr. Ruge Mutahaba said the partnership with the UN would see youth in Dodoma, Kigoma and Dar es Salaam trained on the global goals and on ways to add value in their businesses.

“For the past three years we have been going all over the country supporting youth and start ups with greater capacity building at the individual level, to access knowledge of raw materials, markets, brand management, financial management etc, and this year we are happy we have joined the United Nations to communicate the Global Goals and how they impact the youth’s daily lives” said Ruge.

The UN’s awareness-raising campaign has seen a very diverse range of people receiving Global Goals training including Members of Parliament, university students, primary and secondary school students and the media. Among those who have been trained so far is popular Bongo music artist Niki wa Pili, who recently became a certified Global Goals Youth Champion and was invited to speak at the launch of the initiative so as to share his experience as a champion.

“As a FURSA speaker and Global Goals Youth Champion, I believe this partnership between FURSA and UN will reach youth at the grassroots level, but more importantly support these youths to participate in achieving the global goals’ he said.

Note to the Editor:

• In the next year, it is expected that over 30,000 youth will be trained on the Global Goals with 70 Global Goals Youth Champions themselves having already reached over 6,000 people since April. Fursa will be training 50 Global Goals Youth Champions in each region (i.e. Dodoma, Kigoma and Dar es Salaam).
• In July, the UN held a Global Goals seminar for 180 Members of Parliament where the UN Resident Coordinator requested the MPs to be the voices, ambassadors and monitors for  Global Goals implementation in their relevant constituencies. Additionally, in 2016 the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office has so far trained over 8,000 students across various universities, primary and secondary schools across the mainland and in Zanzibar.
• FURSA is a Swahili for ‘Opportunities’. Our business is in value addition across the board. The initiative was launched in May 2013, by former Tanzanian Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda. The 2013 youth sensitization tour attracted 56,000 youths recorded as attendance in 16 regional seminars across the country culminating with the official launch of 2020 Vision in Dar es Salaam by Former President Kikwete. We are geared to preach the gospel of opportunities at the grass root level and cultivate commercialization of projects. Fursa's pillars include 1. Seminars & business start-up consolation 2. Export & Trading House 3. Partnership & resource mobilization (special purpose vehicle). We have over 60,000 active youths in our database countrywide.