BY HIZKEL HAILU
Undoubtedly “youth unemployment” is exactly what its name implies: it results when young people defined by the United Nations as 15-24 year-olds are searching for jobs but cannot find them. While unemployment itself is a problem, especially in the wake of COVID‑19 youth unemployment is quickly becoming a global crisis.
Unemployment can have thoughtful social ramifications because unemployed youth tend to feel left out, leading to social exclusion, anxiety and a lack of hope for the future. Given that almost 90 percent of all young people live in low-income nations, not feeling that a better life is possible can result in millions of young people floundering in poverty and frustration – bringing fragile nations down with them.
Looking at areas like Africa where there are nearly 200 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 (a number that’s expected to double by 2045), it’s easy to see that skyrocketing youth unemployment rates will have a serious impact if not addressed, International Labor Organization (ILO) disclosed.
With more than 64 million unemployed youth worldwide and 145 million young workers living in poverty, youth employment remains a global challenge. Likewise; as part of the globe, Ethiopia is also suffered with this bottle neck of the national economy. Therefore the government of Ethiopia in collaboration with each regions and city administrations is working day and night.
By mid of this week, Addis Ababa City Administration Job Enterprise and Industry Development Bureau announced that it has created an internship program for about 49 thousand young people to address unemployment in the metropolis.
As a country it is of paramount importance to implement practical training as a strategy for acquiring experience and skills so that to reduce youth unemployment. Depending on a recent report by the ILO, Ethiopia is one of the African countries whose population is growing rapidly. Among them, the number of teenagers and young people can be mainly mentioned. Data shows that the unemployment rate is increasing rapidly along with the growing number of youth and teenagers every year.
Speaking at a press conference organized under the theme ‘Biqat practical training for the youth,’ Addis Ababa City Administration Deputy Mayor and Head of Job Enterprise and Industry Development Bureau, Jantirar Abay stated that the program aims to benefit young people under the age range of 18 to 25. As to him, the program is particularly aimed at supporting the youth whose education doesn’t surpass 12th grade, and could hardly receive much attention in the capital.
The “Biqat practical training for young people” is a program taking place in collaboration with some 14 TVET centers in the city. “32 percent of the total population of Addis Ababa is between the age of 18 and 25. The project can directly support those parts of the society; women have a share of more than 60 percent in this opportunity.”
Financed by the World Bank and Urban Productive Safety net Program in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Skill, the three year project is applicable in 36 districts of 11 cities across the nation to help get 70,000 youth employed, he noted.
Noting that one thousand 505 institutions have been identified to offer the training voluntarily, he mentioned that the training will take 6 months. He said that depending on the conditions of the institutions and the qualifications of the trained youths, there is a possibility that they may be employed after 6 months.
Mentioning that the office is working exhaustively in order to bring a better change in reducing youths unemployment rate from its 19 percent to single digit, he disclosed that the bureau has already given priority for this sector in implementing its 10 years development plan.
According to the Central Statistics Agency’s 2020 report, the number of city residents is 23,081,127. Of these, the number of people aged between ten and 35 or working age is 17,645,914 (76.5 percent). According to this study, the total number of unemployed persons in the urban areas is 20,184,790 (38.7 percent), of which women are 26.1 percent and men are 12.7 percent.
Therefore among the total number of the society in cities and who can work was 8,762,362 in 2020. Compared to 6,789,992 in 2014, it showed an increase of 1,972,370 (29 percent) during the past 5 years. This is an indication that the work being done to solve the problem of unemployment in the country is bringing encouraging results.
However, this study shows that the total number of unemployed in all cities is 2,018,479 and the rate is 18.7 percent. This shows that 19 out of 100 urban residents who are able to work have no job or have not entered to work.
By the same token, when looking at the level of unemployment among urban youth, the number of unemployed youth is 1,249,878 (25.7 percent). Moreover it shows that the number of unemployed youth is higher than the total sum of youths and elderly people. In addition, the study shows that 52 percent of the total number of unemployed people in cities have no work experience or have never worked (Central Statistics Report, 2020).
On the other hand, as the Ethiopian National Youth Policy clearly stated that youth means anyone between the ages of 15-29, it also explained that the problems which the youths faced are different based on their change among their age, gender, lifestyle they live in, education back ground and other circumstances. Therefore, although the problem of unemployment among urban youth is broad and complex, data indicates that the problems faced by all youth are not the same.
It is necessary to look at the problem of youth unemployment in cities by age, gender and educational level. Thus, when we look at the age of unemployed youth in cities, 30.4 percent of young people are aged between 18 and 24, 20.8 percent between 25 and 29 are 20.8 percent and that of between 30 and 34 are 15.8 percent according to the Central Statistics study conducted in 2018. Also, when we measure their educational level, 71 15.8 percent of the unemployed youth have completed 10th grade or below, and 22 15.8 percent are university graduates.
However, as the general statistics mentioned above, the highest number of unemployment rate of youths in urban areas is at a lower level of education. Their age is between 18 and 24 and it shows that it is high among young women. In addition, most of these young people have never worked and lack the skills and work experience needed to enter the working environment.
As it was mentioned above that the project is particularly planned to help these youths, the head further explained that special committee has been established to run this activity. Thus it is expected that the program will highly address the unemployed youths of the metropolis which covers 25 percent of unemployed society, he noted.
Currently, 27,000 youths are identified and registered to get the training and some 200 have already joined the program. Some 12,000 youths will get the same internship opportunity next round. The head further explained that the participants can get life skills, technical skills, basic computer skills and other skills during their six month stay on the training.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 28 AUGUST 2022
