COVID19: Young people's livelihood hangs in balance amidst uncertainty 

COVID-19 | YOUTH | EMPLOYMENT 

By Winnie Adur

The world is marking an unusual International Labour Day 2020 when most of the global workforce is stuck at home as countries battle the raging COVID19 pandemic.

In the global south, young people that are out of employment and unassured income are eying agriculture and home enterprise opportunities to support their livelihoods following COVID-19 economic disruptions and uncertainty.

Studies by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) suggest that Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in the formal and informal sectors account for more than half of the jobs and GDP in most countries, irrespective of income levels.

On average, they employ between two and 10 people; but their weak cash flows and high overheads mean a slight disruption in their production routine will threaten their survival as businesses and the livelihoods of those they employ.

This is already the case in most countries around the world, including Uganda; most MSMEs are almost assured of not surviving this pandemic and the resultant job losses will be recorded as part of the trail of COVID19's legacy of destruction.

In March, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs published a special report on COVID-19 and youth. It said, in part:

"With an estimated rise between 5.3 and 24.7 million in the number of those unemployed globally, the impact on youth employment is likely to be severe given that youth (15-24) are already three times more likely to be unemployed than adults."

As a young person who works closely with young people, that was more than just a statement as I could easily put faces to it; real-life stories of young people whose livelihoods are now hanging in balance because of the early impact of COVID-19.

I am a 25-year old Ugandan youth working as a project officer with Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) which seeks to increase labour law awareness among private sector employers, to safeguard the rights of especially young women in employment. 

The GAA is supported by a consortium of International NGOs including Plan and Restless Development with close collaborations with the Government of Uganda.

As an early success, employers in the Lango sub-region, in Northern Uganda, where GAA is currently implemented, acknowledge the importance of formal employment contracts which ensure employee rights and freedoms as enshrined in national laws.

But when an employer is visibly not making any money, waving an employment contract in the HR's face would not succeed in putting a salary into employee banks. 

Take the example of Christine Among a 24-year-old cook and waitress working with a small restaurant in Alebtong District; while all employees here have contracts, they are not a magic wand to surmount economic consequences of the pandemic.

Since restaurants are allowed to operate during the lockdown, Christine is still working, however, due to the decrease in customers they are not earning as before Covid19 where Christine and colleagues were paid a dollar, daily (3500 shillings); they are now getting slightly more than half that amount.

Among fears that if the situation worsens, the restaurant will go bankrupt and she'll be left jobless; she fears that her colleagues will suffer the same fate. 

She hopes that the government can defeat Covid-19 so that business recovers. Her hope is to either save up or access a grant from the government or any other organisations to start her own restaurant.

Then there is my friend Adong Miriam. She is the chief cook at a Mobile Catering service business in Lira District, one of the firms that have embraced national labour laws; so even as business is slow, they have not fired employees such as Adong.

With traditional weddings and events, their main source of business suspended due to COVID-19, Miriam, and her other colleagues were sent home with a salary advance of US$10 (UgSh30, 000).

Blessed with an entrepreneurial mind, Adong used the money to buy baking ingredients and started a home-enterprise that bakes cookies which she has been selling within her community.

Adong, just like Among, feels COVID-19 will leave a legacy of destruction especially of the livelihoods of young women formerly in employment. 

What worries her most is the many women that will get pregnant during this lockdown and ultimately apply for maternity leave; she is also worried that girls and young women in her community are engaging in prostitution during this lockdown as a way of earning an income.

Therefore, while COVID-19 is a terrible global health pandemic, it is breeding social and economic sub-pandemics in most countries. 

While the Uganda government is doing a great job combating the spread of the virus, it has not been as eloquent on measures to mitigate the social and economic impact of the pandemic, and this worries many of us. 

The writer is a youth activist with Restless Development