The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have begun a nationwide campaign to address youth employment challenge in the country.
In a statement issued by the Nigerian Youth SDGs Network, it noted that the campaign was part of the plans to implement the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP).
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria’s unemployment rate at the end of the second quarter of 2020 was 27.1 percent, indicating that about 21,764,614 (21.7 million) Nigerians remain unemployed.
Development Diaries understands that the worst-hit, according to the NBS data, are Nigerian youths, with more than 13.9 million unemployed.
With a view to solving this problem, the organisers of the campaign managed by the Nigerian Youth SGDs Network, seek to develop a comprehensive guideline for designing effective policies and programmes to ensure Nigerian youths are adequately prepared for employment or for creating jobs.
According to the statement, the campaign commenced on 21 July, 2020, and surveys have been deployed through virtual platforms to gather the views of Nigerian youths on employment prospects to help inform policy formation that will aid the implementation of NIYEAP.
NIYEAP targets young people between the ages of 18 and 35 and details needed actions in support of employment creation for youth in critical economic and social sectors and outlines the financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
‘The Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP) serves as a commitment of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth’, the statement read.
‘With a focus on employment creation, employability, equality and rights as well as entrepreneurship, the priority themes of NIYEAP are further delineated into strategic lines of action listed under each theme, with emphasis on sectors that have high job creation potentials…
‘The action plan is a fundamental framework to address youth employment and it emphasizes finding solutions with and for young people who are seeking decent and productive jobs’.
NIYEAP has an implementation phase from 2019 to 2023.
Source: The Nigerian Youth SDGs Network
Photo source: The Nigerian Youth SDGs Network