Current global, regional, national, and local trends present us with a lot of challenges. Many of these problems; say, poverty, unemployment, climate change, gender inequality, war, exploitation, disproportionately affect youth more than they do any other population. Unemployment is particularly a problem we should all be paying more attention to because it affects majority of Africa’s biggest resource – youth. Africa is home to the world’s youngest population with the median age being 19 years. Yet, the World Bank reports that youths (aged 15-24) account for 60% of all Africa’s jobless.
Uganda’s unemployment issue is not very different. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) reports that unemployment is at 9% and underemployment at 27%, with 83% of the unemployed population being youth. Uganda defines the youth population as those ages 12-35 years of age. Re!gnite Africa believes that Africa’s growing unemployed population will lead to widespread hopelessness. A hopeless and disengaged citizenry will, in turn, add to the continent’s health, social, and environmental problems.
Research studies reveal that unemployed young people are vulnerable and easy target recruits to criminal and rebel groups and militias, political dirty games, and extremist networks and agendas. The root cause of all this; 1) mainly results from poor leadership, bad governance, and limited to no accountability at all levels, and 2) and a growing youth percentage of the population who are unskilled, hopeless and jobless due to various issues. These issues include;