Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2021-09-21

''Hope for Youth'' - National Youth Development Programme

- The total youth population in Sri Lanka between the ages of 15-29 is 23.2% and it is approximately 5.6 million in numbers. A National Youth Development Programme called as Hope for Youth has been scheduled to be implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, enabling to address the challengers encountered by youths and their expectations with a view to attracting youths actively to the development process of the country. The prime objective of this programme is to reduce the unemployment of youth which prevails 28% at present to 12%. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Minister of Youth and Sports to implement the 'Hope for Youth' programme from 2021 onwards instead of Yovunpuraya programme which was implemented up to 2019, through the National Youth Services Council targeting each Divisional Secretariat Divisions, was approved by the Cabinet.