Saturday 9 November 2013

The dilemma of young people, unemployment our daily bread (Academic look)





The subject of unemployment is a sad story to young people around the continent of Africa. Unemployment is universally recognized as a bad condition. While economists and academics make convincing arguments that there is a certain natural level of unemployment that cannot be erased and elevated. Unemployment rates still continue to worsen by each day that passes by. This has facilitated to a loud cry in the lives of the youths because young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and almost 73 million youth worldwide are looking for work (Martin, Gary July 2009). The (ILO) International Labor Organization has warned countries of a “scarred” generation of  youths facing a dangerous mix of high unemployment, increased inactivity and precarious work in developed countries, as well as persistently high working poverty in developing countries (Greenhouse, Steven :2013). Unemployment as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor force. Zimbabwe is one such country currently romancing with unemployment; in fact the romance has resulted in unwanted pregnancy of gross economic decline and bustard children of poverty.

 Sundaram (2008) argued that closely watched economic indicator is that the unemployment rate attracts a great deal of media attention, especially during recessions and tough economic times. This is evidenced in Tunisia after a youth called Buazizi who burnt himself and died after realising that he could not stand life without employment. These are however some serious levels that are caused by structural violence when the government fails to provide for its citizens. Government is best when it serves the interests of its citizens and prioritizes youth issues among other critical elements of the economy.

According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) (Hussainat, Mohammad etal :2012 ) , when the youths are unemployed, their skills lose value , while the nation as a whole loses its contribution to the economy in terms of the goods or services that could have been produced. To better understand the nature of unemployment, policymakers need information on many aspects of it, including the number of unemployed people, the period of time for which they have been unemployed, their skill levels, the trend in unemployment, and regional disparities in unemployment and so on. Once these statistics have been obtained and interpreted, policymakers can use them to make better informed decisions about steering the economy and countering unemployment. 

The situation in Zimbabwe is characterized by hype -unemployment estimated to be above 80 percent. The youth in Zimbabwe constitute of about 67 percent, which generally indicates that, it is youth who are most affected by unemployment. The government as the major employer has frozen most jobs in the public service, yet at the receiving end lies an innocent young person with the zeal to work, develop, marry and support parents and other siblings. In some areas as case study, such as Mbare young people have resorted to array of informal trading, stealing, drug dealing and prostitution. Informal trading is much better as surviving strategy but the rest in the former chain negatively affect the future of youth in Zimbabwe. Media has been at  the cape stage reporting on graduates turning to vending, seriously, this must be  a  clarion call for the ruling government, if not ashamed of such dynamics, then  people are in a serious crisis that need urgent political intervention…..(Continued: )



Thursday 7 November 2013

Article Extracted from: Dynamics of youth participation in peace-building. A value based analysis and the prognosis for the future. By Misheck Gondo: University of Zimbabwe (UZ) International Relations Expert.


A nation that rides on youth development should be classified as a developed nation; from the definition of contemporary philosophy of reality young people are agents of change. The previously mentioned word “agents of change” has left young people around the world at risk given their energy and zeal to transform society. As alluded to by some Scholars and Politicians, “if you want to lose power, empower young people.”  However, the previous quotation is just a fallacy from pseudo minded power hungry leaders who equate the development of the young generation to their loss of power. Many African countries fall into this category of the arm –chair politics of devising policies that usher rhetoric without a clear implementation plan, this is done to cripple the  development- path of youth in which their needs will not be addressed but remain a volumable political rhetoric. The gate-way for some African Politicians is to starve young people of opportunities, coupled with high unemployment and therefore manipulate them as agents of violence.

As defined by humanity, throughout the edge history, it has disproportionately placed the burdens of war and violence on young people and the achievements of peace to older generation. As we theorize and reverse the thinking that young people are violent, are not organized, we need to introspectively unearth the causes of such, not in the vain of validation of the former, but as an exposure strategy, to the failed policies. Those in power must create a conducive environment for the young people. It is of paramount importance to note that young people are vital stakeholders in conflict and in peace-building. In some cases, young people are directly involved in violent conflict, including as child soldiers, usually due to the plans of the so-called leaders who are in positions of control, the young people face hard realities of poverty that drives them to the train of manipulation.

It is important for young people to understand the world around them and their role within it.
While social, cultural, and economic forces all contribute to young people being conscripted and massively labeled as agents of violence, these are reinforced by normative expectations in many societies and traditions that youth are – in some manner – inherently volatile, and even dangerous.  As one scholar shashadly observed in line with the elucidations, “the 'teenager' seems to have replaced the Communist as the appropriate target for public controversy and foreboding.”

However, the power should be diverted from viewing young people as agents of violence, but positively to be viewed as agents of peace.    As opposed to viewing youth as a period of life in which violent behavior is something to be channeled and checked –a re -conceptualization of the qualities of youth takes place and they are seen as essential to the challenges of building peace.   In this call, policies of government must be designed in such a way that young people are groomed from tender age, with array of practical opportunities and framework that sidelines poverty in the name of unemployment, lack of skills, among other poverty tenants.

The potential of young people is not in the negative realm, but positively, young people act as community leaders in peace-building, reconciliation and post conflict reconstruction, in establishing themselves as the next generation of leaders. The present government must locate themselves with the needs of young people, failure to empower them through sound policy will temporarily benefit the polity, but the long run might be premised on the uprisings, as was witnessed in the Arab States. In any case of laymen philosophy, if the ball continues to receive continued pressure it will burst and the result will be the end of the match. Peace is equal to development, hence the participation of youth in peace -building is a pyramid in developing the nation, an empowered generation operating in a well governed state is less likely going to engage in violent acts, and in this case the focus will be to guide and consolidate the national interests and to further facilitate stability and development.