Many people argue that the future fate of the country relies on the youth. It is right. But not only the future fate but also the current fate of the country depends up on the youth at large. Ethiopia is now at a crossroad. There is a severe struggle between the rents collectors and the development activists.
The unreserved efforts chauvinists, rent collectors and narrow politicians to create chaos in the country could only be made hay if and only if there is full participation of the youth. In the past twenty five years there were irregularities as for the participation of the Ethiopian youth is concerned into account.
The irregularities had emanated due to the collaborated sabotages of chauvinists and rent collectors who have been narrowing the chances of the youth to be beneficiary in the developments the country has already been registering.
However, following the successful in-depth renewal of the ruling party, the government has designed a new mechanism that could help the youth to be beneficiary in addition to the efforts made in the past.
The government has drafted youth development strategic plan, which has placed special focus on accountability in addition to the new engagement mechanisms of the youth in urban, rural and pastoral communities. Youth development strategic plan has an objective of modifying any youth misconceptions and increasing political participation, which guaranteed their economic benefits. It will enable the youth to integrate with every government plan and programme. Their active involvement for agricultural productivity and mega projects is vital.
It is a public knowledge that engaging in various activities to improve their livelihood. One major performance in this regard is the attention given to education. The Policies encourage the expansion of science and technology that brought a big difference in inspiring the young generation to involve in science, technology and innovation.
Recently, stakeholders met in Adama town to discuss on the use of the fund the government of Ethiopia has allocated to reduce unemployment through financing youth-centered projects.
The youth organizations, banks, micro financial institutions and other stakeholders are expected to play the leading role to use the revolving fund for the targeted goal. It is known that there are about 2.9 million unemployed youth in urban and rural areas. All the preparations are nearing completion to make them beneficiaries of the fund.
As it was mentioned before more than 900 branches of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and 1,700 micro financial institutions have been readied to ensure access to loan services.
The National Youth Policy of Ethiopia marks a major step in recognizing and promoting the rights of young people in the country. Established in 2004, the policy aims to bring about the active participation of youth in the building of a democratic system and enhance good governance.
It was a recent history that the youth in Ethiopia were vulnerable to various manmade and natural challenges. Even in recent times the youth population faces a number of health challenges, including inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health information, prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and persistent gender inequalities. These problems coupled with scarce of job opportunities.
According to evidences from the Ministry of Youth, about half of Ethiopian women aged 20-24 were married by the age of 18 and 46% of them had given birth by the age of 20.
Ethiopia made progress in improving youth’s education: From 2005 to 2014 the net enrolment rate in primary schools rose from 60.5 to 85.85 percent. The literacy rate of people aged 15-24 years is estimated to have risen to 69.48 percent.
Secondary school enrolment rose from 13 percent in 1999 to 36 percent in 2012. That has increased in following years. World Bank reports indicated that Ethiopia spent 26.3 percent of the government’s expenditure and 4.5 percent of the country’s GDP on education provision in 2013.
The vast majority of young Ethiopians suffer from lack of access to high-quality education, decent formal sector employment, and governmental employment programs have to be supported in various ways.
In this regard Ethiopia's youth has the potential to play a significant role. They could organize the youth and collaborate with the government to alleviate major problems the Ethiopian youth faced.
In fact, the policy also supports these associations to do such activities. The national youth policy clearly indicated that the youth have to strengthen their participation in an organized ways. Thereby, they could contribute their shares to the efforts exerted by the government in building a democratic system and good governance.
There are many barriers that hinder their active participation in the country’s social, political and economic arena. The government recognizes that unemployment, lack of entertainment facilities and scarcity of public library services as some of the problems that have to be solved soon.
The Government has undertaken measures that enable youth to be democratic citizens with professional competencies who participate in their country’s affairs. The Ministry of Youth and Sports coordinates youth affairs at federal level and there are Youth bureaus at regional level that have been working with youth affairs. Based on recent studies, the government has been making efforts to resolve problems the youth faced through their participation.
Unless there is a strong participation of the youth, the process of building democratic system, enhancing good governance and realizing development endeavors might not be so fruitful. It will be fruitful if and only if they are in a position to play a leadership role.
Various communities and cultures in Ethiopia and other countries maintain different views and outlook about youth particularly about females depending on the level of their social and economic development. This has its own influence on the ongoing efforts to empower the youth. The active participation of all segments of the society is an important element to bring about accelerated political, economic and social developments.
In fact, there were unfavorable conditions under which the youth could actively and effectively participate in the process of national development and perform multi-faceted tasks that would help accelerate economic and social development in the previous regimes. However, situations have altered following the fall of the military rule though the efforts failed to solve all problems that the youth have been facing.
The steps taken so far are so important that the youth could be benefited from the various measures that the government has been taken to organize the youth and let them use the funds allotted for them.
It is crystal clear that the government has taken a firm position towards creating a favourable atmosphere for the youth to cooperate with government and nongovernmental organizations in connection to their affairs.
Previously, priorities and serious attention have been given to capacity building activities with a view to benefit the youth.
There is an urgent and immediate need to facilitate conditions under which the youth would be participating and benefiting from the country’s development. The number of the youth has been increasing from time to time. According to population censuses and projections conducted in different years, youth constitute a high proportion of the Ethiopian population.
The youth have carried out multi-faceted activities under the various political systems and during the country's various historic moments. They had worked together in a spirit of unity whenever issues or problems of national interest cropped up.
The youth are expected to ensure their safety and well-being by properly participating in the efforts made at national and regional levels. The youth should use the favorable conditions the government has now brought about.
In the past twenty five years a remarkable number of youths have improved their livelihoods and created job opportunities for others. However, there are still a greater number of unemployed youths throughout the country. That is why the government has working industriously to void those problems the youth faced. It is committed to alleviate the obstacles the youth has been facing and create conducive atmosphere in the country.