Skilling initiative has improved fortunes, galvanised NRM support among youth

Presidential Skilling Hubs have played a key role in strengthening youth alignment with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and President Yoweri Museveni's leadership, New Vision Online has heard.

According to Gen Z for Gen 7 chairperson Israel Kyarisiima, the youth skilling hubs illustrate how practical empowerment can influence political trust and participation.

As part of the Presidential Initiative on Skilling Uganda, the Government is implementing what it calls a game-changing intervention through the Zonal Industrial Skilling Hubs across the country.

These hubs are designed to equip the youth with practical, employable skills in key trades to foster self-reliance, stimulate entrepreneurship, and reduce unemployment.

Spearheaded by the State House and implemented in partnership with the local government ministry and various private sector actors, this initiative is redefining how Uganda addresses the challenge of youth unemployment and underemployment.

The finance ministry says the initiative aligns with national development priorities under the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga, and other enterprise support programmes, offering a pipeline of skilled young Ugandans ready to contribute to the country’s socio-economic transformation.

According to Kyarisiima, the incomes of the youth have improved, and their dependence on families and communities has reduced, while the self-reliance of the youth has greatly increased.

Barekye commended the youth for recognising her efforts, adding that the skilling hubs were never intended to be ceremonial projects, but practical interventions designed to restore dignity, productivity, and hope among young Ugandans.

“This human impact has formed the foundation of broader social confidence and cohesion. The success of the skilling hubs has also carried political significance,” Kyarisiima said, adding that the initiative helped rebuild confidence in state-led development programmes.

Kyarisiima made the remarks on February 3, 2026, when he led a section of youths under the Gen Z for Gen 7 banner in awarding State House comptroller Jane Barekye for being at the forefront of skilling youth across the country, which the youth say has led to job creation and poverty eradication across the country.

“We are awarding Barekye for her strategic leadership in driving the youth-centred development through the Presidential Skilling Hubs,” Gen Z for Gen 7 chairperson Israel Kyarisiima said. He added that the award comes at a time when Uganda’s youth bulge presents both an opportunity and a risk.

“Skilling hubs have functioned as a stabiliser and transformative intervention in Uganda. Under Barekye’s oversight, the programme emphasised execution, equity, and outcomes, ensuring that skills training translated into economic participation rather than idle certification,” Kyarisiima said.

He said for the Gen Z beneficiaries, the hubs became entry points into productivity, adding that the youth have gained vocational and entrepreneurial skills.

Barekye commended the youth for recognising her efforts, adding that the skilling hubs were never intended to be ceremonial projects, but practical interventions designed to restore dignity, productivity, and hope among young Ugandans.

Barekye said empowering the youth with skills is not just an economic responsibility, but a national duty adding that a skilled and engaged youth population is the foundation of a stable and prosperous country.