What and when is a job decent to youth in Africa?
Francis Arinaitwe, youth leader and board member of Restless Development Uganda, launched a webinar series on decent employment, with the voices of youth across 9 African countries. The outcomes of the webinars are now summarised in a report and video.
On the 8th of October 2020, Francis Arinaitwe, youth leader and a board member of Restless Development Uganda, launched the webinar series on ‘What and when is a job decent to youth?’ This series was organised in cooperation with the INCLUDE Platform, and constitutes the voices of youth across 9 African countries - Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. It seeks to dissect the official ILO definition of decent work and reflect on how it resonates with participants’ own interpretation of the concept. The outcomes of the nine webinars were summarised in a synthesis report and a news item with synthesis video.
Youth participation
INCLUDE, the knowledge platform on inclusive development policies, believes that it is crucial to place youth at the centre of discussions concerning their future, since they alone have the professionalism, expertise and leadership to speak for themselves. In line with Youth at Heart's objective to meaningfully engage youth, the webinar aims to bring effective and meaningful youth participation to the debate on decent work. In doing this, we intend to enhance youth voices and contribute to employment and labour policies that align with the real needs, goals and experiences of youth in Africa.
Decent jobs
The series was structured around key questions which sought to explore:
1. What does a ‘decent job’ mean to you?
2. Is a ‘decent job’ only possible in the formal sector?
3. Is a ‘decent job’ different for men and women?
4. How has COVID-19 affected the decent job narrative?
5. What could be done to make more jobs decent?