The world is experiencing an unprecedented “youth bulge.” People under 35 currently represent about half of the world’s population - in some developing countries, including Zimbabwe, the figure is 60%. Over the next decade, billions of children will transition through adolescence into adulthood yet the world is doing little to embrace and include them into the socio – economic progress of the world. It is disheartening to note that many young people in the developing countries are locked out of the benefits of globalization, experiencing underemployment in casual labour in the informal sector or hazardous and abusive work.
In Zimbabwe youth employment crisis has reached intolerable dimensions evidenced by higher unemployment, lower quality jobs and rising social, economic and political marginalization. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned of a potential ‘lost generation’ made up of young people isolated from the world of work altogether. This unfortunately has become a reality in Zimbabwe. The bulk of the so called born frees have never enjoyed the virtue of formal labour so as to meaningfully contribute to the development of this country. By implementing sound, decent work policies, Zimbabwe can take advantage of the youth bulge and translate it into a dividend that promises better economic and social outcomes for young people. The sad thing though is that our current political and business leaders lack the will power to promote such sound intergeneration convergence policies mainly because of corruption watered by deep rooted greed and selfishness.
Sovereignty, which implies the power to rule without constraints and is associated with the nation state, is at the heart of governance. The prime objective of very government is to ensure and safeguard national sovereignty. Every government has, as part of its mandate, to develop risk management strategies which involve adopting comprehensive and systematic approaches to deal with the factors causing political risk. Among the major drivers of political risk is a growing yet economically redundant youth. According to the national youth policy of this country, “the government's vision acknowledges empowerment of young women and men so that they can realise their full potential as individuals, as members of communities, political and social action groups, and youth organisations and as key to the development of Zimbabwe.” The Policy seeks to empower the youth by creating an enabling environment and marshalling the resources necessary for undertaking programmes to fully develop youth's mental, moral, social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual and physical potential in order to improve their quality of life. This appears to be a high sounding document, yet as is typical of our country little is being done to put it into effect.
LEAD believes that a number policy and programme should be fashioned and prioritised to enable youth empowerment across all sectors of the Zimbabwean life. Youth employment, and access to skills and jobs, cannot happen in isolation from supportive development policies ranging from political participation to economic involvement. International institutions and protocols have called and are still calling on governments to “achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, as well as a focus on high-value added and labour- intensive sectors” and to “promote development- oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-,small-and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services”.
This calls for empowering youths and programme partners to advocate for the right economic and financial strategies. It is also necessary to encourage coherent education and training frameworks that align with labour market demand. Furthermore, policies and regulations must acknowledge the specific needs of marginalised groups and keep the emphasis on human and labour rights protection including the provision of safety nets/social protection, especially in informal economies. Good practices resulting from a youth employment programmatic intervention should be institutionalised into government-supported or market-based systems to facilitate sustainable replication or ‘scaling-up.
At any age, possessing solid basic skills in numeracy and literacy is fundamental to the acquisition of further vocational skills training. Especially with out-of-school youth, it is crucial to provide foundational skills in ‘bridge programmes’, combined with life skill interventions to renew youth’s taste for learning. This way young people are empowered to become responsible workers, active citizens and agents of change in policy-making and social dialogue, ultimately supporting students in their transition towards independent and productive adulthood. The delivery of foundational skill trainings should be provided in all types of formal and informal education and training schemes including second-chance education, technical and vocational training, apprenticeship frameworks and enterprise development training. For adolescent girls and young women, life skills delivered in secured, collaborative and learning exchange spaces can build confidence, advocacy and leadership skills.
LEAD advocates for youth employability programmes which acknowledge the scarcity of wage work opportunities in many Zimbabwe. These programmes should equip youth with the mind-set and skills needed to become self-employed rather than ‘wait for a job’. Political, business and civic players in Zimbabwe should offer context-specific career guidance, mentoring and coaching services to youth throughout an employability programme and beyond. Vocational counselling and professional support also need to be aligned with youth’s aspirations/capabilities as well as actual skills demand, in order to generate durable decent work outcomes for young men and women. The provision of adequate labour market information and advice and regular coaching is an imperative for harmonious adolescent development towards balanced adulthood (particularly for young women who need to balance additional choices around their productive vs. reproductive future).
In conclusion, It is our responsibility to ensure that we resolve these issues that I have reminded you of. I am determined to serve my party for my country. It can only be possible if we realize the importance of team building and team work as we go. Together We Can Lead.
Thank you.
Linda Tsungirirai Masarira-Kaingidza
LEAD PRESIDENT
