The Youth bulge: A potent pathway for a sustainable future

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OPINION

By Johnson Okwera

Reflecting on the Global Theme for the 2025 International Youth Day; "Youth Empowerment for a Sustainable Future" with the slogan "Empowering Youth, Building Tomorrow"; the emphasis underscores the crucial role of young people in creating a more sustainable, equitable, and innovative world with a keen focus on encouraging youth participation in global economic development, while also inspiring them to contribute solutions to major global issues and empowering them to take leadership roles in their communities.

The Uganda National Population and Housing Census 2024, UBOS reported that over 70% of Uganda's population is under the age of 30. Specifically, 22.7% of the population falls within the 18-30 age group: just over half of Uganda’s registered voters. The youth bulge gives them numerical strength, and they pose a big force to reckon with as they represent a full political constituency. The demographics clearly point to Youth advantage, one which calls for careful attention.

Collectively, youths in Uganda represent a powerful movement that transcends ethnicity, gender, and social or economic status. They are a walking depiction of their worldview that is externally manifested through characterisation like clothing, art, innovation, attitude, style, belief, and music.

Youths are a big business now and everyone is struggling for their attention; advertisers, large and small businesses, media, and conglomerates; politicians, sports, fashion, and entertainment industries, faith communities, health arenas, schools, community-based organisations.

However, they are fraught with a plethora of millennial challenges, including wrestling with widespread unemployment. The worse of this is the high incidences of HIV infection, which as usual shows daunting statistics to the disadvantage of the Adolescent girls and Young Women owing to societal perceptions and upbringing that inhibits them from making meaningful decisions on core issues that affect their adult life and often lack the much-needed adult assistance, nurturing, guided independence, enabling policies and accessible resources.

This has further exacerbated the problem forcing many to make not only risky but harmful behavioural choices like transactional sex and or multiple sexual partners, gruesome body enhancements and attempts to reverse nature including skin bleaching, breast and hips enlargements, body tattooing to gain physical appeal to soothe the taste of scavenging overaged and rather financially stable men who can fund their livelihood.

As part of the run-up to the 2026 General Elections, the youth population has been under increased scrutiny by politicians. Few examples have already been seen when the youths have been largely given cash handouts, especially in the ghetto communities in and around Kampala, and in some instances treated as protagonists of criminal violence, often viewed as vulnerable and helpless.

Fortunately, recent research has disputed some of these negative narratives and perceptions by acknowledging young people’s positive roles in society, emphasising how their involvement in decision-making processes is crucial for the development of sustainable and legitimate solutions for diverse social challenges. The 2007 World Development Report highlighted that the youth represent Africa’s most abundant asset, with enormous opportunities as well as challenges.

In the wisdom of the UN Secretary General, “achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a seismic shift which can only happen if we empower young people and work with them as equals. " To do this better, families, politicians, corporate entities, institutions of higher learning, and other civil society organisations should focus on an all-of Government; All-of Society approach, which is inclusive, intentional, mutually-respectful partnership with the youths where power is shared, respective contributions are valued, and young people's ideas, perspectives, skills and strengths are integrated into the design and delivery of programs, strategies, policies, and funding mechanisms.

It is noteworthy that ambitious programs like Youth Livelihood Programs and Skilling Uganda were a positive direction to this effort, even when it has so far registered limited success. The Youths need acknowledgement as beneficiaries, partners and leaders in the development of society and the ones who can craft their own destiny.

The ones left furthest behind should be supported with targeted interventions to narrate their own stories and provide them with spaces for inclusive dialogue to allow them to become central actors in the pursuit of their innate potential to live a sustainable and healthy generation, with productive lives and engaged citizens capable of leaving a mark of pride and a deserving legacy. It is about that time to intentionally prepare the youth for the future on an equal scale as preparing the future for the Youth.

The writer is a Commonwealth Scholar with MSc in Global Development from The Open University, United Kingdom.

okwerajohnson@gmail.com