The Nature and Challenges of Youth Unemployment in Lideta Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study is aimed to investigate the nature and challenges of youth unemployment in Lideta Sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The participants include randomly selected youth life skills trainers and trainees. Extensive document analysis, participant observation, and interview were the major instruments employed to obtain the necessary data. Extreme poverty as obstacle to start education and business; psychological dependency on government employment along with lack of entrepreneurial skills; negative peer influence; often loose and negative society and youth relationship; lack of robust political communication with the government; and rural to urban migration were found to be the key factors behind youth unemployment. Moreover, poor to modest macroeconomic performance; low level of employment creation; and a rapid increase in the workforce were reported to be further exacerbating youth unemployment. On the other hand, some efforts such as provisions of various trainings on entrepreneurship, vocational life skills; accessability of credit associations; enabling the youth to be active participants and beneficiaries in of whatever they are involved; and attempts for strong communication with high government officials were outlined to be appreciable measures taken to curb the problem of urban youth unemployement. Furthermore, enhanced education, information and health services; inadequacy of educated personnel; and culture of interdependence were stressed as among the key opportunities available for the youth. However, the study also uncovered that absence of adequate place to implement what they have been trained for absence of market connectedness; mismatch between skills requirements and education/training the youth; absence of follow –up (monitoring); absence of place to demonstrate what they have produced; and limited training field are explained as some of the central supplementary factors that could possibly incapacitate youth employment opportunities. The study concluded that though the government has made encouraging progress towards curbing the problems of youh unemployment, significant improvement remains to be made. That the unemployment situation is particularly rampant among the youth, which constitutes the largest population calls for an urgent intervention aimed at improving the fate of the unemployed. And this requires concerted effort among concerned stakeholders. Hair breeding, mash room production, poultry were highlighted as ecologically valid sectors to expand the limited training options.