BY MENGESHA AMARE
The youth bulge in Ethiopia being either a boon or a ticking time bomb and bane will depend on the extent to which the government implementation of sound policies and invest in human capital sectors such as higher education, vocational training, skills development schemes, agriculture and food security projects, health, labor intensive job creation and encouraging entrepreneurship, as well as ensuring peace and security.
Effective policies and measures are critical to harness the benefits of the potential of the youth assets. In addition, the Ethiopian government needs support from a wide range of partners and stakeholders as the sustainable development and progress will not be achieved without the active engagement and contribution of the youth to identify their priorities in coordination with development actors to help robust implementation of the various development priorities.
It seems understanding this fact, Shimelis Abdissa, Oromia State President said, “Capitalizing on the youth is a viable means to well foster social, economic, political and other related changes that in turn help come up with real change and prosperity at national level as these segments of the society are the ones who will have the nation with its future.”
He said that undeniably growth, development, real change, poverty reduction, among others, is driven by the young generation as they do have fresh mind and lucrative labor force. Besides, the youth have fresh ideas by which they can come up with different points of view, with simple solutions to what others sometimes see as convoluted problems.
However, many of them are not having the opportunity to put their ideas to the test as many in this group are having serious problems in due course of obtaining productive employment. As in country like ours where opportunities for work seem scarce, we have to work hard and change all circumstances into job opportunities.
A long way needs to be trekked to combat myriads of challenges discouraging the youth. Otherwise, there might be a strong correlation between youth unemployment and violence in various ways. Hence, the government along with all concerned and development partners have to capitalize on all possible aspects that help the youth beef up.
“In so doing, youth problems of all sorts can be well overcome. Besides, the development of our country will depend greatly on what we invest today in the youth,” he added.
According to Shimelis, the government, private sector and civil society are expected to work together to achieve decent employment, and entrepreneurship solutions, for the youth without waiting any longer.
Shimelis further underlined that educating the youth is particularly crucial so that they can contribute to their communities and boost the country’s or region’s economy through their skill, work, knowledge and expertise.
What Oromia State President said was well confirmed by Somali State Vice President Mustefie Mohammed stating, “We all have to move in unison to encourage the youth to come to the forefront and work hard for their country.
Thus the government, development partners, civil society, the private sector, among others, should join hands to advance youth employment in a sustainable, effective and inclusive manner.”
Without a shadow of doubt, the youth are change engines with afresh mind set up and powerful engagements to help the nation bring about change, but have a dangerous gush to wash away all what a country has had if mistreated and erroneously led.
It is obvious that the youth population in Ethiopia has continued growing for several decades. However, from an economic perspective, absolute numbers may be less important than the growth rate or relative size of youth cohorts.
Shimelis further said that providing education, employment and empowerment for the youth are key factors in achieving regional as well as national progress.
“Young people everywhere deserve the power to get information, to connect and to ask invaluable questions–about justice, unity, equality and opportunity. Our job is to listen to youth and answer their calls,” he said.
His speech focused on the role of three elements in achieving progress: education, employment and empowerment.
Mustefie also stressed the need to provide employment opportunities to the youth especially who are unemployed suffering from lack of job that can in turn lead them to social unrest and instability has to be done away with in no time.
“It is quite important for leaders to listen to their people and the youth in particular as not only are they talking about democracy, equality, unity and cooperation but they are also looking for a better future with decent jobs and attractive pay,” said Mustefie adding that in the years to come thousands and millions of jobs are required for new people joining the workforce.
As education and employment should be coupled with empowerment, the nation in general and the regional states in particular are expected to encourage the youth to actively and diligently participate in a number of social, economic and political engagements run among the society in which they dwell.
He said, “To unleash the power of the youth, the government needs to partner with them via fulfilling all the required, though gradually met, facilities to help them effectively play their part in the national effort geared towards climbing success summit with a view to ending poverty and getting political infancy matured.”
True, encouraging the youth helps them work more and contribute what they can to the overall development and progress of their country. Besides, the youth can always be a boon for a given nation if governments are committed to well contain former’s joblessness, political inclusion, and human rights violation and getting elements guiding them wrongly vanished.
Mustefie further said that focusing on moral development and personal growth, which provides the youth with life full of sense of purpose, is quite indispensible to substantially mold them in a proper manner to create a better world, indeed.
Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed once said while consulting secondary school students, “So long as it is you who can make this country in the shape it deserves and you would like to be, equip yourselves with the required education, skill and knowledge as well as discharge all your responsibilities without procrastinating and developing absolute patriotism.”
“Those who tried to bend the change trajectory as per their route have solely benefited fatigue. It is inevitable that Ethiopia will change. The path is being paved by the effort of its beloved sons and daughters who are capable of altering curses into blessings; plague into mercy, and destruction into security. Therefore, Ethiopia will eradicate poverty soon and declare prosperity,” he believes.
In a nut shell, since lack of social security, educational opportunities and inclusive governance as well as unemployment can drive the youth to take uninformed decisions, indulge in informal or even criminal activities, make them susceptible to recruitment efforts of anti-peace elements or lead to illegal migration, the combined effort of all in a bid to create conducive atmosphere for these segments of the society is badly needed and well eyed at more seriously than ever.
Since the youth constitute a substantial share of the population of Ethiopia, the government has to prioritize their issues formulating practical policies and getting them engaged in a number of socio-political spheres. Yes, the government is expected to address their need by enacting youth policies to support their growth and inclusion.
As technology is rapidly changing the employment landscape, generating jobs that demand a range of digital skills also needs to be rife. Digital skills training must be at the core of continued education if the youth are to compete for high-tech, higher-paying jobs and take advantage of increasing opportunities for innovation.
In so doing, it is possible to attain the desired national target via well exploiting youth capacity, knowledge and expertise.
The Ethiopian Herald January 28/2021
