ON March 12 every year, young people in Zambia commemorate Youth Day.
This is a day recognised by the United Nations and it is dedicated to the youths, with the aim to raise awareness for the valuable contribution they make to social and economic development in the country.
Young people are vital components in the social-economic development cycle.
You will agree with me that the youth were vital in spearheading Zambia’s fight for independence from colonial rule between the late 1950’s and 1964.
The fight against apartheid rule in ancient South Africa was also spearheaded by the youth movement which fought tooth and nail with the Boer regime for that country’s emancipation.
When you look at sectors such as sport and recreation, education and many others, young people are the fulcrum for growth.
The examples are too numerous to comprehend but the truth of the matter is that youths are vital to social-economic development.
In today’s feature, I have decided to highlight some of the challenges affecting the youth in Zambia as they prepare to commemorate their important day, three days from now.
I am aware that strategies are in place to turn-around the situation and improve the welfare of young people, but suffice to say that the average young person is still affected by at least one of the some below;
Unemployment
Thousands of youths in Zambia are unemployed despite the country being the top producer of copper and emeralds in Africa.
Zambia is also agriculture-intensive and boasts of supplying relief maize to neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This country also offers a platform for private businesses to flourish in construction and manufacturing, especially through the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
Despite these sectors promoting increased revenue growth, the bulk of youths are still not able to find jobs with most of them settling for informal occupations like land scaping and street sweeping.
But there is need to increase access to employment in sustainable avenues more-so that they are well positioned for growth due to the country’s economic stability.
Mining and agriculture if fully exploited have the capacity to create more jobs than there currently are.
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Access to Quality Education
Education……Education……Education! Education is the key to success but Zambia today still lacks infrastructure to accommodate as many young people in all spheres of education from primary to tertiary.
Due to this, many youths have ended up illiterate and it has been difficult for them to express themselves in the formal world which is the only provider of access to stable white-collar employment.
Efforts to construct more schools in the rural areas must have by now gained momentum more-so that the unlearned population increases year in year out.
Government must also ensure that these schools are affordable so that as many youths as possible can have access to quality and affordable education for their improvement.
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Disease and Ailments
HIV and AIDS, Malaria, Cancer, Tuberculosis; have continued to robe the world of productive young people.
Zambia has not been spared as over the years, young people die from these diseases makes sad reading.
Even if the death ration is one in a million that year, it still must be reduced to zero because one life can change a thousand others.
Access to quality health must not be a toll order for any citizen and as such efforts to bring quality health services to the people must be afforded the share of attention that they deserve.
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Early Marriages and Teenage Pregnancies
These are most of the reasons why female young people are dropping out of school and failing to achieve their goal to have possession of higher education qualifications.
Awareness programmes have been extended to rural areas and I commend the role that traditional leaders have played in this regard.
This fight should not be perplexed because the women folk also form an important role in the development of the country.
In Zambia for instance, the Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice and the Auditor General are all female and it is clear that these people have a solid education background.
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Access to Financing
Recently, a renowned local entrepreneur stressed that limited access to finance is what has stifled the growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
The entrepreneur said if only MSMEs were funded regularly or allowed to borrow at affordable rates; these institutions could flourish and contribute significantly to the growth of Zambia.
This industrialist is right and financial institutions need to step up efforts to improve financing to MSMEs.
Government has introduced the Youth Development Fund (YDF) to compliment other similar initiatives by the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).
Authorities should ensure though that these funds are distributed equally because Zambia consists of ten provinces, all with young people willing to develop in business.
These above are just but a few out of the many challenges that the Zambian youths are facing today.
Government and the civil society have put in their best efforts towards improving the welfare of youths in the country but a lot more still needs to be done.
Groups like the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the Operation Young Voters (OYV), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) must collaborate with Government to improve the welfare of youths.
Teacher organisations, the church are also not to be left out in this crusade for youth empowerment.
The youth themselves must also be interested to tap into the development initiatives being put for them lest all the work will be done in vain.
A happy Youth Day to every young person out there and remember to enjoy and celebrate this day responsibly.
Send your comments, contributions and suggestions to jameskunda91@gmail.com or call and text to 0964317110 or 0973182006.