The Africa Commissions Thematic Conference

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The Africa Commissions Thematic Conference

• Youth Employment Preliminary Presentation and
  Debate, Ibis
• By Shani Mahama, Cand. Scient. Soc.

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The Current Devt Discourse

• Service Delivery education mainly primary
  education, infrastructure
• Democracy and good governance
• Advocacy and capacity building
• Gender/WID micro finance (young girls?)
• Small scale business/social enterprising?

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Any reason for discursive shift by both major
donors, and NGOs?

• ABSOLUTELY YES towards youth and economic
  empowerment.
• Ref. Two recently published independent studies
  in Ghana and Denmark on causality between
  employment and crime show similar results.

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The Rockwool Foundation

• The study showed a co-relation between frequency
  of crime and unemployment.

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Professor Kenneth Atafuah,Ghana

• Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana
• - Conclusion similar to Rockwool Foundations
• ? Therefore AFC theme on Youth and Employment is
  timely, to address
• The absolutely less focus by NGOs and Donors on
  job creation and skill/capability enhancement.
• Note the saying that, the devil resides in an
  idle mind

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Neglect by NGOs and Donors on Youth Issues

• In the few cases of NGO involvement, focus has
  been on traditional vocational training.
• Policies lack new thinking and innovativeness
• Excess supply of low quality skill training
  NGOs and state institutional TVET schemes all
  focus on sewing, carpenters, soap making etc.
  (the question is whether development workers
  patronize what they train youth to produce?)

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Recommendations 1

• It is about time to reduce focus on soft values
  democracy, good governance and political
  empowerment ? giving voice!
• Move towards economic empowerment through
  effective job creation
• The egg is older than the chicken ? economic
  empowerment before democracy, if democracy should
  sustain.

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Recommendation 2

• Democracy must come from within thru building
  social capital promoting associational life.
• NB Democracy does not alleviate poverty ? it is
  secondary to eco. growth!
• Economic empowerment will make people demand
  voice, political rights etc

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Recommendation 3

• Vigorous institutionalization of employment
  schemes (private public must remunerate fairly
  ? this might reduce corruption/fraud in the long
  run)
• Invest into social enterprising, occupational
  inclusion/integration irrespective of educational
  attainment.
• Replace schools with educational institutions
  (TVET)

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Challenges for AFC

• Will AFC make any difference or a 9 days
  wonder? the case of Blairs
• The impact of AFC will greatly depend on CSOs,
  media and the general publics ability to
  constantly press the govt to implement
  recommendations of AFC.
• Govt ability to make the policy all inclusive
  and across political lines (as at now, it is a
  political gimmick) and might be abandoned by a
  new government in the long-run.

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The End

• Tusind TAK for muligheden!