Youth unemployment: Social media not the solution!.

Last week, the government used the occasion of the International Youth Day to launch the national youth consultations in order to update the National Youth Policy document.

The ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Mounouna Foutsou.

It saw the presence of his peers of the Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa, the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, and that of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe.

The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Cameroon, Coulibaly Siaka, was also in attendance.

That high level of attendance underlined government's  "renewed" commitment to create more opportunities that will benefit young Cameroonians, especially in the domain of business and entrepreneurship, given their high rate of unemployment, which is a time bomb.

As explained by Minister Mounouna, the National Youth Policy document is a guiding framework of reference that will enable government to take better account of the specific concerns of young people as well as mobilise more effectively the resources and means of action needed to help them.

He has called on young Cameroonians, including those in the diaspora, to consult all the platforms set up by his ministry and other institutions to express their needs and aspirations so that adequate solutions can be provided by the government.

“The Head of State has promised to involve young people more in decision-making, with the aim to increase their opportunities. Updating this document will be an opportunity for young people to express their views and find solutions together with the government and its partners,” Minister Mounouna stated.

Taking the cue, the President of the Cameroon National Youth Council, CNYC, Fadimatou Iyawa Ousmanou, invited young people to log on en masse to the CNYC and youth affairs ministry platforms to express their grievances, as well as their views on the ills and the challenges they face in terms of unemployment, the search for job opportunities and entrepreneurship.

This, she said, will enable government, the institution she heads as well as other stakeholders, to be aware of the difficulties young people face and how these problems can be addressed.

We, at The Guardian Post, will love to seize the occasion to remind the Minister of Youth Affairs that Youth "grievances" are open knowledge, and do not need to be social media strollers to reiterate them. 

Many of them, especially in the rural area, do not have access to the internet.

 In urban communities, the social media is not only expensive but often, is interrupted by electricity failure and poor network.

President Biya is aware of rising youth unemployment in Cameroon. 

That is why he wasted no time in authorising the creation of the Cameroon National Youth Council, CNJC.

It is a framework for dialogue, expression, consultation and youth action. It is said to interface with the youths, the government and development partners.

There are the Multipurpose Youth Empowerment Centres, CMPJ, which provides extracurricular coaching and accompanying structures for youth empowerment and the National Youth Employment Covenant, PANEJ, with the goal of promoting youth employment. 

It offers opportunities for young people to acquire professional training and thus increase their chances of employment.

Others are the Integrated Support Project to Stakeholders of the Informal Sector, PIAASI, with the objective to ensure better supervision of youths operating in the informal sector and maximise the creation of productive, stable and decent jobs.

It is intended to fund approximately 8,000 micro-projects and the training of their promoters.

There are also the Support Programme to Rural and Urban Youth, PAJER-U, and the Special Youth Triennial Plan announced by the Head of State, President Paul Biya, during his traditional speech to the youth on February 10, 2016 and launched in January 2017.

The main goal of the three-year programme is to enhance civic education, social and economic integration of young people. 

It also aims to achieve this by providing civic and entrepreneurial training, employment and setting up businesses. The plan serves as an umbrella for all related government projects designed for youths.

Seven years after the president launched it, government and stakeholders are still calling on youth to go to the social media to express their grievances. 

There is no gainsaying the fact that the youth need jobs. 

They also need to be groomed for leadership roles, especially in a country like Cameroon governed by people in the evening of their lives.

Decision-making jobs like members of government, Boards of Directors of state corporations etc, occupied by their grandparents, are not offered through the social media or the many programmes offered the youth, and which have not solved the unemployment quandary in the country.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3206 of Thursday August 22, 2024