HSBC Helps to Provide Job Training to Poor Youth

HSBC Global Financial Services, through Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, enters a program to provide impoverished teens with job-skills training in Honduras through a supportive grant.

The grant supports a 14-month Into Employment program, initially funded by the Kellogg Foundation and the Monsanto Fund, and provides teens with the technical training they need to get decent jobs.

“We value that teens are benefiting from this program and want to improve their lives and their communities,” said Jonathan Hartley, president of HSBC Honduras. “By continuing to fund this program we know more teens will benefit and more communities will be improved.”

Impoverished youth ages 17 to 21 years of age are eligible for the program. Youth will receive training in welding, electrical, refrigeration and industrial mechanics.

Crucial interpersonal skills needed to succeed in a developing job market will also be emphasized. Some of these skills include resume writing, job search, job interview techniques, and how to dress in the work place – many of the skills unknown to youth in the high poverty areas of Honduras.

Honduras, according to Children International, is the second poorest country in Latin America and has an unemployment rate for ages 15-24 of nearly 60 percent.

For teens living in poverty, their challenge is to continue their education or receive vocational training so they are better prepared to find a job to support themselves as adults.

Children International’s president and CEO Jim Cook said, “We are grateful HSBC is providing our teens this opportunity. For these teens, these job skills are necessary to set them apart from others trying to find a job. It gives them more opportunities to succeed.”

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According to the United Nations World Youth Report 2007, employment and income levels for Latin American youth are at the lowest levels in 15 years, informs Children International.

The announcement was made today, Dec. 13.