Youth Rising
| Author | Sahiba Chawdhary, Omar Chennafi, and Jjumba Martin |
| Position | Three under thirty forge their own futures. |
| Pages | 37-43 |
I
n most of Africa and in pa rts of Asia and Latin
America and the Ca ribbean the working-age
population is growing faster t han any other
segment of society. In India, half of the coun-
try’s 1.3 billion people are under the age of 27,
and 1.3 million young people reach working age
every month.
A large, young population ca n be a country’s
most valuable asset, opening t he door to higher
incomes and a reduction in poverty —the so-called
demographic dividend. But it can also p ose pressing
challenges. Cou ntries that fail to generate sufficient
jobs for large numbers of youth are vulnera ble to
social, political, and ec onomic instability.
Youth in many of these countries with
fast-growing populations face a d aunting labor
market. About 20 percent of young people in the
average emerging market a nd developing economy
are neither in school nor employed, according to
IMF research. ose who do work are of ten in
jobs that are part ti me, poorly paid, and offer no
legal prote ction.
What can be done? Developing countries have
made dramatic progress in school enrollment rates in
recent years. e challenge now is to better align edu-
cation with the skills needed in today’s marketplace.
Technology also offers hope. While it will l ikely
displace some jobs, it may also boost connect ivity
and the potential for innovation, generating new
jobs that give young people an advantage.
And governments can do more to make it ea sier
for youth to enter the labor market. Young people
everywhere have a hard time getting started.
Policies that limit flexibility a nd mobility across
sectors—such a s overly rigid employment protec-
tion laws or excessively high mi nimum wages—
tend to penalize them more tha n older workers.
Nonetheless, many members of the next gen-
eration are managi ng to thrive. e following
pages offer an intimate look at t hree young people
navigating the da ily challenge of ma king a life
for themselves—with va rying degrees of success.
Dhara Shah, 27, is the cofounder of an informa-
tion design studio in New Delh i, India, a country
where women entrepreneurs face serious cultural
obstacles. Abdel Illah Safi, 21, is an aspiring per-
forming artist i n Fez, Morocco, who dabbled in
construction work and potter y sales before enroll-
ing at a vocational center in the hope of land ing a
decent job. Faith Aweko, 26, is an entrepreneur in
Uganda who escaped from t he slums of Kampala
to start a business t hat converts plastic waste into
fashionable handbags.
Ambitious, socially awa re, and open to change,
these youth are not sitting back a nd waiting for
opportunity to come to them. Here are their storie s.
Three under thirty forge their own futures
RISING
YOUTH
ART: ISTOCK / AJWAD CREATIVE
March 2020 | FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT 35
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