With 11 million youth aged 15-24 — a whole 20.92 per cent, or a fifth, of the population — one must wonder why there was a deliberate sidelining of this demographic from the onset of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). If we are going to solve the youth unemployment crisis, we must start by giving them a seat at the table. If we have any intention of empowering the youth to take on leadership roles, we must bring ourselves to trust them enough with autonomy to steer the conversations and developments in their spaces. How can the youth even begin to decipher what is required of them when they are not engaged? Read more
This article was first published in the Daily Nation on 10th December 2019