… Pillars of the programme revealed
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Fighting youth unemployment!
His Majesty King Mswati III has endorsed a youth empowerment programme that seeks to improve the livelihoods of young people in the country.
The Eswatini Head of State endorsed the above mentioned initiative yesterday evening at Lozitha Royal House.
Developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the government, the private sector and civil society organisations, the Eswatini Youth Empowerment Programme aims to significantly reduce youth unemployment. The programme was also developed following an extensive engagement with young people, graduates, and non-graduates, across the four regions of the country.
The programme supports young people between 18 to 35 years old to gain work experience, skills, and access to jobs. It responds to the youth’s socio-economic challenges, including difficulties in finding employment.
Industries also report on a mismatch between the needs of the job market and the current output of the employable population, and a general challenge of finding the skills they are looking for among young graduates who apply to their institutions. Notably, half of the young people who graduate from primary school do not transition to secondary school because of several socio-economic challenges.
The King said the country’s youthful population had the potential to propel economic growth and contribute to the achievement of our vision to attain first-world status.
“This can only be achieved within a peaceful environment where investment and development can thrive. I want to commend UNDP for working collaboratively with the Government, Private Sector, parastatals, and development partners to pilot this programme aimed at mobilising all key stakeholders towards a deliberate and systematic approach in addressing the daunting issue of youth unemployment,” said the King.
UNDP Resident Representative in Eswatini Rose Ssebatindira said they had also observed during the design of this programme that, under the King’s leadership, that the government was already heavily invested in varied youth programmes, including others supported by development partners, private sector, and parastatals.
“This programme aims to provide a government-led national vehicle for delivering a well-coordinated concerted effort to address the multidimensional nature of youth poverty. I would like to reiterate the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa’s strong belief and commitment that this is indeed achievable – empowerment of young people should be at the centre of sustainable development for any country.”
Worth noting is that during the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA77, His Majesty King Mswati III explored ways in Eswatini would eradicate poverty in five years.
The Eswatini National Youth Empowerment Programme addresses these challenges through five pillars:
- Graduate Placement and Mentorship – engages with the government, private sector, and civil society organisations to match public and private sector institutions with interns/fellows over a 6–12-month period to gain professional experience and mentorship. 500 graduates are targeted during the pilot phase.
- Artisanal Skills Training and Mentorship – This pillar targets 500 non-graduates or out-of-school youth and trains them with basic in-demand vocational skills, business development and mentorship. On graduation, this group will receive starter packs and business training to support self-employment.
- A Sustainable Energy Academy – In its first year, the Sustainable Energy Academy will select 100 candidates, half of which are women, from each of the four administrative regions to equip them with skills to design, install and maintain renewable energy systems.
- The Establishment of a Tech-Hub – The Tech Hub will provide computer programming skills, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Robotics, Data Science, Software Development, App Design, Animation, and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Cloud, Computing to young savvy emaSwati.
- Entrepreneurship Support Programme – focuses on improving business leadership, governance, and management to increase access to finance for youth-led businesses through a targeted 12-week business training programme, business plan support and extended mentorship.
