Times Of Swaziland: YOUTH AND DEVELOPMENT

YOUTH AND DEVELOPMENT
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Editor on 01/04/2019 08:17:00


Sir,
With surmounting challenges, the youth are faced with obstacles so profound it
would be criminal to ignore them from a developmental perspective. While gender
mainstreaming has become endemic in application to developmental work and
programmes, youth issues seem to be an isolated realm whose concerns are
confined to specialists in youth-related issues. But this is hardly the
direction we need to take. Instead, because of the development challenge that
African countries face, the youth are arguably a key and strategic cohort whose
inclusion in development is necessary and potentially rewarding.
Unemployment
Youth unemployment in the country is over 50 per cent in a society where there
is a high misdistribution of income. This suggests that few people have most of
the wealth in the kingdom and as a result the have-nots find it difficult to
rise up the rung to join the haves. The challenge assumes colossal proportion
for female youths because of the unbalanced gender situation in the kingdom’s
formal employment. I highlight the implications of the crisis at hand with
regard to the youth and take a rather pessimistic stand on where the current
youth may land, assuming leaders continue on the development trajectory that
they have adopted.
Future
The future looks bleak for most young people from today’s standpoint. While
fortune, technology and changes in economic and political outlook may change to
the benefit of the youth, I contend that past initiatives and current conditions
and policies do not paint a bright picture. At current levels there is a strong
likelihood that most of the youth will find themselves in an awkward position in
terms of formal employment, social protection, education and provision of social
services. Setbacks have occurred primarily because of global phenomena from a
growth perspective. But as many social and economic commentators may note,
growth alone is not sufficient to ensure that people rise out of poverty.
Instead, deliberate intervention and policy formulation and execution, suffice.
T