SKILLING INNOVATIONS FOR TRADE OCCUPATIONS

The Born-Free generation, which came into the world after the end of Apartheid and comprise roughly half the country’s population, is struggling to make a living.

No single organisation – whether government, corporate or civil society – can solve South Africa’s unemployment crisis alone. With nearly two-thirds (63,2%) of the country’s young people not in work or education, a co-ordinated effort is required to offer them economic inclusion.

Why economic growth plans should focus on sector-level solutions to unlock potential and create inclusive jobs that put income into pockets now and over the long term.

Supporting entrepreneurs in South Africa’s informal economy can be a crucial step towards reducing unemployment rates – and, research from Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator shows, there’s potential to do something else: create more inclusive employment.

With South Africa having moved to Level 3 Lockdown on Monday, 1 June 2020, there is need to ensure that all businesses take responsibility to mitigate the risk of spreading the coronavirus as much as possible by assisting with monitoring, testing and tracing.

Youth on the world’s youngest continent have something to say during this Covid-19 crisis: “Don’t just talk at us, talk with us and listen to what we need”.

The United Nations (UN) in South Africa has partnered with Funzi, a mobile learning service based in Finland, to introduce an online education initiative aimed at teaching adults and children how to cope with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator builds African solutions to tackle the global challenge of youth unemployment. It partners with governments, businesses, young people and many others who are committed to deliver results that can work at scale.

The familiar promise of more – more schooling, more skills, more training – no longer leads to more opportunity for South Africa’s youth. Pathways from education systems to economic systems are broken. We urgently need new ways of moving young people along non-linear, zig-zagging and increasingly short-term journeys from school to work.