Abuja – The World Bank on Thursday in Abuja said seven states met the criteria to access its 300 million-dollar support  for Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).

The Nigeria Country Director for the bank, Ms Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, said this at the formal launch of YESSO.

She said: “This programme is expected to cover all the states; we right now have in the first phase seven states which represent all the geo political zones.

“In the first phase, we already have Bauchi, Niger, Kwara, Ekiti, Osun, Cross River and Ogun states .’’

According to her, Imo and Abia will be incorporated in the second phase of the programme.

She said that the major criteria to be met by states included a formal commitment, a registry of beneficiaries and about 50 per cent monetary contribution.

“This is a full partnership, and the programme has a target group; that is why it requires the registry of beneficiaries to be sure that the right people are involved,’’ Marie-Nelly said.

The country director said the programme would have special focus on social inclusion in extreme poor households and unskilled youths

She said that YESSO would also help to strengthen national institutions that would play a key role in the process.

She advised states to ensure that 40 per cent of the recipients were women.

Launching the programme, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the idea of YESSO was to compliment government effort with SURE-P programme in job creation.

She said that YESSO would focus on children, women and youths, adding that it would key into various empowerment programmes such as conditional cash transfer.

The minister said that programme would also help to build skill of the youths and those who already have business to grow their businesses.

She said that the fund was open to all states and commended the seven states that met the criteria.

Also, Gov. Rauf Aregbeshola of Osun said that youth unemployment remained a major challenge to the country.

He said that YESSO was panacea to such a challenge and commended the bank and the Federal Government for the initiative.

He said his government would ensure its full participation in the scheme and urged all state governments to key into the programme. (NAN)