Ebène, 12 April 2021: The third edition of the National Leadership Engine (NLE) project kicked off with the online training of participants on Saturday 10 April, with more than 700 youth registered for the programme. Owing to restrictions imposed by the national lockdown, the training session is being held online via the Zoom platform and will continue on this mode until further notice.
The training of participants in NLE 2021, similar to the previous two editions in 2019 and 2020, will span over a period of 12 weeks comprising online theoretical sessions combined with project implementation sessions.
In his welcome message to the participants, the Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr. Ashit Gungah, has exhorted participants to make the most of the NLE training programme and encouraged them to do their best to bring out projects that have positive and sustainable impact on the society and the economy. “Your zeal and enthusiasm reveal everything about your interest in this project of national importance, especially at a time we are facing difficult situations amid the pandemic. We need your contribution more than ever to face the challenges ahead,” he pointed out.
Moreover, the NPCC launched the National Leadership Engine Action Drivers (NLEAD) across the island in an effort to unite Mauritian youth in concerted community based projects for a better society and economy. The idea emanates from the NLE project, which aims at creating a pipeline of leaders in Mauritius. The purpose of the NLEAD in each region is to provide a platform for the participants of NLE to continuously demonstrate their leadership capabilities at community level through the implementation of projects and inspiring other youth to become leaders in a spirit to keep the engine moving. Each NLEAD will be urged to register themselves as an association with a proper operating structure to deliver on their respective projects.
According to Mr. Gungah, the overall objective of the NLE and NLEAD initiatives are to provide the maximum number of incentives and encouragement to Mauritian youths to continuously enhance their talents and skills and to create the environment where they can put those skills and talents at work.
“This in turn is expected to create a better society for our people and ultimately a better living for everyone, which is the central tenet of the NPCC,” he added.
The NLE project aims to develop leadership capabilities among youth. Leadership is a stepping stone for youth to participate in building effective, accountable, and inclusive communities in Mauritius. It is to be noted that during NLE2019 and NLE2020, above 500 youths were trained and 80 projects were implemented. For the current edition, some 100 former participants joined NLE 2021 as co-trainers.
The NLE is an initiative of the NPCC in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation with the objective of developing a leadership pipeline to achieve higher productivity and a better living for the nation.