Here is Why Past and Current Youth Empowerment Programs have failed
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Loading... - Kelline Essama
- 18 Jan 2023
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Zambia’s various administrations since independence in 1964 – United National Independence Party (UNIP), Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), Patriotic Front (PF) and now the United Party for National Development (UPND) – have all implemented various Youth empowerment programs in order to solve the intractable Youth unemployment problem. These programs include the National Service, Youth Development Fund, Multi-Sectoral Youth Empowerment, Constituency Development Fund, and a myriad of others. They have all failed to solve the problem. This article identifies their flaws, and suggests a 21st Century approach, which covers the entire Youth empowerment value chain that includes intellectual capital and technology, rather than the concentration on financial empowerment as is the case now.
New Dawn Youth empowerment Programs
The New Dawn Administration have launched various ad hoc, but apparently not well thought out empowerment programmes because they are mere repeats of the failed old ones. In December, 2022, Minister of Youth, Sport and Art, Elvis Nkandu launched three empowerment projects: Internship/graduate Apprenticeship and Volunteer Programme, Youth Connekt Hubs and Digital Platform and the Equipment modernization of the Youth Resource Centres. These initiatives are in addition to the fuel tankers empowerment and the Constituency Development Fund (Youth and Women component). What is crystal clear is that these programmes are very similar to the failed MMD and PF Programmes. There is no evidence of any innovation at all. It follows, therefore, that these initiatives are likely to fail like in the past ones. The Ministry is doing the same thing, and expecting a different result. Read More…
