by Rita Kamukule
Activism in Africa is just starting and there is a need to raise awareness about different topics been gender issues, human rights, Governance, Climate change, SDGs awareness etc. Young people taking key interests in these particular topics will not only contribute to development but will also pay a major role in promoting sustainable livelihoods.
The introduction of entrepreneurship as an approach in teaching in schools which further teaches pupils to creatively think and align themselves with different areas of interest is a way to go. Entrepreneur learning is a new approach to teaching which is currently not implemented by every school but this approach has the potential to unlock productivity in young people.
Poverty level contributing to unproductivity in young people which hinders decision making in young people when it comes to career choice. The common thing done when a young person completes secondary education is that they look at where opportunities are the most in terms of Jobs and Salaries not where there strength, passion and resources can be used efficiently.
As action for nature we aim towards creating opportunities for our future generation to help them unlock their potential and purposefully engage in making career choices aligned with interests by collaboration with different NGOs to link them or expose them to different topics to engage in by creating school clubs in secondary schools. This collaboration will enable them have access to sponsorship By these Organization’s in furthering there education and also securing a job and some funds to start their own movements or initiatives, this will evolve and repair the system to start a new era more youth led organizations and more employment. We further look in young people supporting each other in creation of enterprises eliminating dependency on government employment.
For young people to purposely engage in development issues concerning there communities they need to be prepared mentally on what policies as a nation we have on paper and there experiences in communities and the problems our people are facing, if our policies support their communities or there is need for change or monitoring implementation, simply the actual reality, that should be evaluated realistically, where debats can be held and strategies can be set.
Our program aims to prepare young people to be practically involved in meaningful engagements concerning our country’s wellbeing and giving them a voice and encouraging to participate in development issues.
We understand there so many social constraint that deter sustainable livelihoods currently but our initiative as Action for Nature is that collectively we can do more and achieve greater things.
