The Djiboutian Agency for Social Development and the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship proceeded yesterday in the Al Rahma complex to launch the activities of the FORJE project financed by the World Bank, for the benefit of the municipality of Balbala. The launching ceremony was attended by the director general of the CLE center, Oubah Amed Malow, the director general of ADDS, Mahdi Mohamed Djama, and the president of the commune of Balbala, Aden Mohamed Hamed. The FORJE project aims to respond to all the challenges of professional integration and to further strengthen all the economic opportunities and social inclusion of young people from the municipality of Balbala.

During a speech delivered on this occasion, the director general of the CLE center, Oubah Amed Malow, highlighted that within the framework of the FORJE project, it will be for all future participants to propose a set of modules awareness raising and training in order to build integrated projects in line with the needs of the municipality of Balbala. The objective of the Entrepreneurship and Leadership Center is to support project leaders and local communities in the development and emergence of sustainable solutions. Thus, the FORJE Project administered with the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship and ADDS will have the essential mission of improving the accessibility of young people and women to income and job creation opportunities and this through offer training, support and grant funding for the implementation of their income-generating activities.

The challenge of these initiatives is to fight against extreme poverty and reduce urban inequalities by improving the living conditions of residents. With approximately 275,000 inhabitants, the commune of Balbala, which today has more than half of the population of Djibouti-ville and concentrates the vast majority of poverty situations, is a priority area for intervention.