STAFF WRITER
Former African Union Youth Ambassador for Peace for southern Africa, Mpule Kgetsi, says youth unemployment could be a major cause for instability and insecurity in Namibia, as it has been across the continent.
Speaking at the capacity building workshop for members of parliament and technical experts on the National Action Plan on Youth Peace and Security last week, Kgetsi said history in the region shows that when young people are shut out of the economy, they become vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups, violent extremism, and criminal networks.
“Unemployment has been found to be one of the biggest drivers of insecurity because if you look at things such as radicalisation, violent extremism, they are a result of unemployment,” she said.
She added “you have young people that are susceptible because they don’t have jobs, they don’t have ways of living, they don’t have money. And if somebody comes and says, “Here’s money. Go do something bad.” It’s easy. So for Namibia, the opportunity here is to act in a preventative capacity,” she said
Namibia Statistics Agency shows that the country’s population is predominantly young with the population under 35 reaching 2.1 million in 2023. This represents 71 percent of the total population. According to the 2023 Population and Housing Census Labour Force Report, the current youth unemployment rate is 44.4%.
However, national growth through industrialisation is a significant key to maintaining peace and security. Coordinator of Youth for Peace (Y4P) Africa Programme at the African Union Gloria Kabage said: “We must find ways to link peace to profits as private companies have a large role to play in economic inclusion of youth. On the other hand they also benefit from peace,”
ROPE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR
The discussions at the workshop said that the private sector has a mixed-role in the youth, peace and security agenda. Experts at the gathering added that the private sector benefits from a peaceful landscape through assured stability and predictability in markets and minimised operational risks. On the other hand, the private sector, through the growth of developmental projects and creation of jobs and opportunities, can contribute to the YPS agenda.
According to Jessica Uiras, the President of Namibia Youth, Peace and Security Network, the private sector should be engaged as a strategic partner in advancing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, particularly through youth employment, skills development, entrepreneurship, innovation and mentorship.
“Many of the drivers of youth insecurity are linked to exclusion, unemployment and limited access to economic opportunity. As Namibia develops its YPS National Action Plan, sectors such as mining, banking, telecommunications, tourism, agriculture, technology and green hydrogen can support practical implementation through internships, youth enterprise support, digital inclusion, community investment and partnerships with youth-led organisations,” said Uiras.
She further added that the private sector should therefore not only provide funding, but also help create pathways for young people to participate meaningfully in peacebuilding, governance and national development.
MENTORSHIP IS KEY
Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, speaking at the event highlighted the multistakeholder nature of maintaining peace and security.
She said, “If we are not ready to invest as civil society, as governments, or the private sector, if we are not prepared to invest in scholarships, mentorship programmes and coaching, we cannot talk about the youth being leaders of tomorrow.”
Namibia has a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security which covers the period 2019 to 2024. The National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security will be seen as a complementary, rather than competing action plan that highlights the youth’s role in peace and security. The country is also currently developing its second generation National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
Earlier this year, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) president McHenry Venaani called for youth unemployment to be declared a national disaster. Venaani is quoted in The Namibian newspaper saying that “There is nothing more urgent, young people have qualifications and degrees, but no jobs. One day they are going to revolt if extraordinary steps are not taken.”
A REGIONAL CRISIS
Namibia is not the only country in southern Africa faced with youth unemployment. According to the International Labour Organization, youth unemployment in Botswana stands at 38.2 percent. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), South Africans aged 15-24 face the highest unemployment rate at 60,9 per cent, followed by those aged 25-34 at 40,6 percent. Likewise, according to the Eswatini Integrated Labour Force Survey from 2023 youth unemployment in (ages 15-35) stands at a staggering 56 percent.
Ricky Simasiku, local political analyst said that the securitisation of unemployment may become a legitimate risk in the Namibian context, should the country not invest in meaningful employment.
“Youth matters such as unemployment, they are securitised which means creating a security problem out of nothing. Unemployment on its own does not create a security crisis because you can sit at home, plough and be happy. But when you have graduates without jobs, they will start questioning the government, you have given us education but where are the jobs. So these people can revolt and once they do, you have a national security crisis,” he said.
In 2023, Namibia scored 0.696 in the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Development Index. This score places the country among the medium youth developed countries, and highest in Southern Africa.
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