HNB committed to empowering youth with ‘Yauwanabhimana’

Today’s youth are the nation’s hope for a better tomorrow. HNB, together with premier corporate businesses in Sri Lanka, has now set the wheels in motion to offer young people throughout the island the opportunity to improve both themselves and their skills through a groundbreaking initiative aptly named ‘Yauwanabhimana,’ meaning ‘The Pride of Youth’.

Focused on empowering youth between the ages of 18 & 30 years, HNB Yauwanabhimana aims to provide young people with the resources, skills and tools they need to become more ‘employable’ individuals – individuals with the ability to obtain employment in the corporate sector or successfully manage self-employment endeavours of their own.

Over the years HNB has demonstrated its commitment to the nation as a responsible corporate partner in progress and ‘Yauwanabhimana’ is an extension of its commitment to the nation and the people of Sri Lanka.

HNB has pledged the full backing of its considerable resources to this initiative and has additionally sought and obtained the willing support and cooperation of some of the most recognised and respected organisations in the country for this programme. These include Hayleys, CIC, Diesel & Motor Engineering Plc (DIMO), Dialog Axiata Plc, Holcim, the British Council, the University of Colombo and the World University Society of Canada.

HNB has secured the broad based support of these nationally respected entities and is now able to provide the youth of this nation with: linkages to top corporate bodies, access to different markets, information about prospective career opportunities, ‘industry-best-practice’ knowledge sharing sessions with corporate partners, financial education programmes for better income and asset management, personal development programmes and English language training, which is a requirement sought by virtually every employer in the country.

The project scope also includes islandwide youth development programmes organised by ‘Yauwanabhimana’ corporate partners, with exposure to the fields of corporate business, construction, telecommunication, mechanical engineering and agriculture.

Additionally, ‘Yauwan-abhimana’ will also provide special financial services such as savings, lending and loan facilities. These also include education loans, vehicle loans, personal loans, housing loans and micro finance loans tailored to suit the requirements of a budding generation of business minded youth. HNB remains committed to partnering with the youth of the nation in their quest for personal and professional excellence.

HNB Managing Director/CEO Rajendra Theag-arajah commenting on the development of the ‘Yauwanabhimana’ initiative said: “We had long felt the need for a programme of this nature and the initiatives we put out to gauge people’s reaction yielded positive feedback.

Almost every corporation we approached expressed their wholehearted willingness to support this programme and HNB, taking heart from their enthusiasm, did the initial groundwork and started laying the foundation for the launch for what has become Yauwanabhimana.”

HNB Deputy General Manager (Marketing and Retail Banking) Chandula Abeywickrema stated that Sri Lanka has from the early 1970s has experienced three major youth uprisings starting from 1971, 1989 to the recently concluded war involving young people.

“The youth of this country has spoken clearly and loud throughout their lives, the need to create opportunities for them to enhance the capacity for their progress and empower them to be progressively engaged in economic activities that generate revenue and enrich their lives to be equal partners in nation building. 

The time has now come in Sri Lanka where all the stakeholders should pause and take a very clear commitment with the courage of conviction set in motion a programme the youth can believe in and can take initial steps to walk with clear hope.  There are significant opportunities for them right here within the country when their future is not in doubt.”

As Sri Lanka’s premier retail bank in the private sector and as a bank with a long history of responsible corporate citizenship, HNB has the utmost confidence that ‘Yauwanabhimana’ will play an important role in the large-scale empowerment of Sri Lanka’s youth.

Improved access to education, skill development and vocational training is a responsibility for the entire business community and HNB ‘Yauwanabhimana’ is proud to play a part in enabling the youth of Sri Lanka to transform their lives for a better tomorrow.