Avoid past pitfalls in new youth support initiatives

Youth unemployment has emerged as a major threat to the economy and national stability. Government statistics indicate that the youth constitute 85 per cent of the unemployed, making it the largest group that is economically disadvantaged.

Unemployment is a consequence of a combination of many factors such as a depressed economy, poor training or a mismatch between skills and jobs. Whatever the case, it has gross impact on society.

In particular, youth unemployment leads to idleness and increased cases of crime, radicalisation, and drug and substance abuse. These pose a serious threat to peace and tranquility.

This week, the government, working with partners, including MasterCard Foundation, launched a Sh100 billion fund to provide skills training for the youth and also offer seed money for them to start businesses. Importantly, this is a multi-agency enterprise and has what it takes to succeed.

Even so, this is not new. Several other such initiatives have been implemented in the past but returned mixed results and for that reason, this new plan must be properly thought through and meticulously executed.

On its part, the government has been running the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, which was created to give loans to the youth to enter into business and tied to it, offer training and linkages with the market.

So far, the government has disbursed some Sh12.8 billion to more than one million youths through the fund.

After a decade of operation, its full impact is yet to be realised. Some youngsters have made a breakthrough through the loans but many have not.

Many do not understand how it is accessed and lack requite business skills vital for success.

Tackling youth unemployment is complex but it starts with education and training.

Available evidence has demonstrated that the current education system and training is not properly primed to deal with unemployment.

Graduates leaving universities and training institutions are poised for paid employment; hardly for self-employment. Yet the economy is not growing fast enough to create jobs. This is why there is active discussion about changing the education and training systems to produce graduates endowed with skills for self-employment.

However, other factors also come into play. Corruption, political influence, nepotism and tribalism have become so prevalent and many job seekers without the networks to facilitate those practices are terribly disadvantaged. These practices must be eradicated.

Efforts to support the youth to get into gainful employment are quite encouraging.

However, they should be sustainable and simplified to get traction among the youth. They must have failsafe options to guarantee success.