Invest in the youth to spur economic growth
Jul 14, 2020
Uganda has an opportunity to turn its young population into an opportunity and benefit from what is referred to as the demographic dividend.
KAMPALA - Uganda will only harness its youthful population if government invests more in the sectors of health, education and skilled labour.
According to Dr Carole Sekimpi, Country Director Marie Stopes UG, about 80% of Uganda's population is below 24 years. This, according to Sekimpi, means that Uganda has a very big population that is dependent on a small working population that has to look after the young and the aged.
However, Uganda has an opportunity to turn its young population into an opportunity and benefit from what is referred to as the demographic dividend.
"We need to get more people in the working class so that they can support the people at the upper part of the population structure (aged) and the lower (the young)," she said, adding that the Government needs to invest heavily in health, education and skilled labour.
She said Uganda could earn the demographic dividend in the coming decades after consistent investment in social services that are needed to cause a shift in the population.
The demographic dividend refers to the accelerated economic growth that begins with changes in the age structure of a country's population as it transitions from high to low birth and death rates.
"We are doing well on infant mortality rate (316 per 1,000)," said Sekimpi, adding that there is need to invest in health to reduce death and increase life expectancy.
In addition, investment in education should increase productivity. This helps the population to take better choices and also make families with fewer children that they can manage.
There is need to invest in skilling of the youth and provide them with relevant skills to make things that are needed in the daily lives of Ugandans.
"I do not want to see a country training a population skilling in making aero-planes when Uganda does not have a company making aero-planes," she said, adding that the youth should be skilled in vocations such as carpentry because Ugandans need chairs and tables.
After skilling the youth, the demand for a minimum wage should help the youth to get gainful employment, according to Sekimpi.
She also pointed out that without good education and skills, youth particularly girls are likely to end up in the informal sector where they will become dependants for the rest of their lives.
Sekimpi said Uganda is one of the countries in the world with the highest fertility rate estimated at 5.4. "We need to promote family planning where mothers have children by choice and not by chance," she said.
She was speaking last week on Friday during a press conference called by Marie Stopes at their offices in Muyenga, Kampala. This was organised ahead of the World Population Day organised in the world on July 11th under the theme, "Leveraging Uganda's population dynamics for a resilient future amidst COVID-19."
Sekimpi also pointed out that about 360,000 teenage pregnancies (25%) occur annually far from the Health Sector Development Plan (HSDP) target of 14% by 2020. This means that one in every four girls aged 15 -19 years is already a mother or pregnant with her first child.
Unmet need for family planning among adolescents aged 15-19 years is estimated at 30.4% with total demand of 52.3%, according to Sekimpi.
The COVID-19 pandemic has for example seen an increase in teenage pregnancies among adolescent girls and young women as a result of limitation in access to family planning services and lack of information.
She pointed out that over 60 learners between the age of 14-15 years in Luuka and Kaliro districts are pregnant and likely not to see the classroom when the schools re-open. "Schools are a safe haven for girls," said Sekimpi, adding that when schools closed in the lockdown, the girls have been exposed to sex by relatives and unscrupulous men in the community.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a severe disruption of access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services.
At the same press conference, Dr Peter Ddungu, the grant manager at Marie Stopes UG said mothers should not give birth too early or too late. He also said families and the communities should come together and fight teenage pregnancy.