Over 77% of Uganda’s population is under 30 years ranking the country the first in the whole world with the youngest population. Unfortunately most of these young minds are dependents who find themselves with no employment or in underemployment for the few that manage to strike some sort of unemployment. This is where Hire The Youth comes in (More about them later)
The unemployment problem tops the agenda when it comes to public policy but unfortunately legislation has done little to nothing to solve this issue . This has left the most enterprising youth to lead paths of entrepreneurship otherwise the biting unemployment swallows the up.
Hire the Youth, a youth led initiative is one amongst the many that have sprung up to address this social disaster, except that it is using a different approach, technology per say on top of its other campaigns that aim to uplift the youth out of the unemployment and underemployment den.
Its initiatives not only involve empowerment but education, training, entrepreneurship and e-commerce to close the skills gaps that the youth are given a chance to exhibit their potential and also thrive in their dear country. All these are found on their online portal plus education material to see this through.
It has struck partnership with leading employers to offer internships that culminate into jobs plus jobs themselves (it’s job board only lists employment opportunities with requirements the youths can easily fulfill like experience) and also focuses on training not just fresh graduates but vacists and the like, to prepare them overcome unemployment through acquisition of skills needed for employment.
Its training aims to empower and equip the youth with the desired skills that render them competitive on the job market. Often times, experience is a bottleneck to employment prospects but Hire the Youth through leadership team aims to give the youth a foundation onto which they can build a future by exposing them to working environments at their earliest.
Some of their long term campaigns like the Hire The Youth Club, made of unemployment graduates, leading employers, education institutions, students, human resource experts, civil society organisations and movers and shakers of this country aims to disseminate positive and lasting change in the Ugandan society to shape young people to find real and lasting employment.
Our Future, Our say will be a lobbying campaign by the young minds to draw attention to the unemployment crisis across different communities in Uganda. It also, aims to change the stereotypes about the youth not being competitive enough to be subdued by the existing opportunities onto which employers place huge premiums. Instead, Hire The Youth wants to shift with times to create a platform onto which the youth can voice their concerns and influence policy, set up a structured dialogue between them and policy formulators and also call for education reforms centered around practical knowledge.
Hire the Youth can be accessed through their website with mobile apps launching in the not so distant future.
