By Amin Kef Sesay
The fact that unemployed youth are not only victims but also active participants of political instability is not new; as the history of insecurity in Sierra Leone associates high youth unemployment with the numerous situations of instability; notably the rebel war.
Worsening unemployment trends among the youth represents a danger signal for political instability and insecurity.
In appreciating the involvement of youth in conflicts and political instability, therefore, the youth unemployment question must be adequately prioritized as a key component of poverty alleviation efforts in national policy making.
The issue critically has to do with the relationship between unemployment, social cohesion and political instability.
High levels of poverty exist among youths, even though most need to support their families and work for survival. As such, high youth unemployment carries strong undercurrent of systematic marginalization and neglect of young people at many levels of governance and development policies.
The rate of unemployment among young people therefore points to the broader lack of equitable distribution of resources and marginalization – hence a sense of frustration and anger that easily boils over into crime, violence and anti-social behaviours.
Even where an appreciable number of employment opportunities exist, these are quickly outpaced by the growing youth population. Consequently, the percentage of the working poor is higher among young people.
The result is pressure on unemployed young people to survive which demonstrates the critical need for social inclusion against a backdrop of dwindling opportunities, corruption, and fast-paced modernization.
Meanwhile social inclusion is challenged and threatened by lavish materialization and rising individualism of the rich and their dissociation from the rest of society.
Social constructs are thus altered in many ways as the relevance of social structures and the State are questioned in the desperate quest for survival in the midst of crushing dynamic demographic stresses, such as rapid urban population growth, increasing numbers of illiterate, semi-educated, unskilled young people and diminishing resources, particularly land. This has led to high rates of disaffected youth whose perceptions of the future are bleak.
In the above context, the society has to grapple with double desperadoes – unemployed young people who are both (a) desperate for opportunities that promise a better life and so are (b) vulnerable to recruitment by individuals and groups who promise such deliverables. Together with other social realities, vulnerable youth populations have become easy recruits for crime, rebel militias, political gangs and extremist networks.
Given the fact that such young people have nothing to lose, the cost of their recruitment into conflict is low, thereby increasing their propensity to contribute to political instability, collective violence, crime and conflicts.
It can be recalled that during the 1990s in the Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire conflicts, the mix of these factors made it easy for warlords to exploit unemployed young people as soldiers.
Among other things, worsening unemployment trends are an important measure of inept leadership and the general lack of good governance. Growing levels of unemployment are a precursor of an explosive red alert situation and explain the involvement of unemployed youth in the many conflicts and political instabilities on the continent.
Thus, peace in Sierra Leone that can enhance durable security and development can only be achieved through politicians resetting the mindset of the people from regional and political antagonism and confrontation to mutual understanding and tolerance for the cultural and ideological differences that exist among us.
The political parties, in this regard, should work closely in and out of Parliament to ensure that the voices of women and youth are integral to peace processes, and agents of change.
Fragile and conflict-affected situations take a huge toll on human capital, creating vicious cycles that lower people’s lifetime productivity and earnings and reduce socio-economic mobility. People are deprived of money, education and basic infrastructure simultaneously.
On the economic front, urgent action is needed in a country severely impacted by fragility, conflict and violence to end extreme poverty. “Addressing humanitarian crises requires immediate support and long-term development approaches,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.
“To end extreme poverty and break the cycle of fragility, conflict, and violence, countries need to ensure access to basic services, transparent and accountable Government institutions, and economic and social inclusion of the most marginalized communities. These kinds of investments go hand in hand with humanitarian aid.”
