June 12, 2018
Uganda ranks second as the country with the youngest population in the world as 48.5% of the country’s population is below the age of 15 years. While most of those teenagers are still school going, the education system and pedagogies used in most government schools and institutions are outdated. After completing school these youth have to compete for a few available jobs in government or private sector.
The unemployment rate for young people ages 15–24 is a staggering 83%. This rate is even higher for those who have formal degrees and live in the urban area. This is due to the disconnect between the degree achieved and the vocational skills needed for the jobs that are in demand for workers. Those without a degree are also not able to obtain jobs because they lack the skills needed for the position or they don’t have the resources such as land or capital.
Uganda’s biggest asset are the youth and in light of massive unemployment, there’s need to re-think different ways of engaging the youth to tackle some of the greatest challenges we face. There’s a lot of opportunity for solving challenges with in the city but also in rural areas and it’s time for the youth to begin thinking more critically about creating jobs rather than seeking them.
Disruptive innovation is one of the ways we can start thinking about solving some of our greatest challenges. Today, technology is in our hands and is a big enabler at how we choose to address problems.
The world is in need of a new type of entrepreneur who seeks to look at every challenge and be able to see an opportunity to solve a problem, that’s where innovation comes in. It’s being able to critically assess challenges within our surroundings and crafting solutions that are well throughout and tested with communities with which we intend to serve.
I recently started a venture with my friends that’s meant to use the available resources to disrupt social challenges and combating plastic waste accumulation in our communities. i am committed to create a world free from plastic waste that’s why I founded Upcycle Africa. While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences. Around the world, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute. 500 billion disposable plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In total, 50 per cent of the plastic we use is single use.
Nearly one third of the plastic packaging we use escapes collection systems, which means that it ends up clogging our city streets and polluting our natural environment. Every year, up to 13 million tons of plastic leak into our oceans, where it smoothers coral reefs and threatens vulnerable marine wildlife. The plastic that ends up in the oceans can circle the Earth four times in a single year, and it can persist for up to 1,000 years before it fully disintegrates.
“If you ever think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito!” —
Wendy Lesko
Up-cycle Africa protect the environment and promote innovative mind-set while empowering youth. Through up-cycling plastic bottles we train our local communities in Uganda especially the disadvantaged youth to protect the environment. Bottles replaces environmentally unfriendly bricks, which are burnt for days promoting deforestation. Bottles are collected and compacted with soil, making the houses very cost effective and affordable. Furthermore, the buildings are strong, buffer heat and are earthquake resistant. Through our sensitization programs in communities we instil innovative mind-set to the youth and so far empowered 1000+ with the critical thinking that has enhanced innovativeness beyond constructing using bottles rather seeing plastic waste as a resource.
On 25th oct 2018, I was fortunate that i was invited as delegate speaker at the One younger world the Hague in Netherlands where i presented on the way this world will survive plastic waste
At Seedbed conference that was conducted in South Africa from 9–11 May under the theme “The Role of Science with Society and the SDGs in Africa” — I was fortunate to be shortlisted among 10 Africa’s top innovators. As flattering as that was, I feel that my greatest achievement will be seeing us disrupting more sectors using technology and innovation as the biggest driving force.
The youth in Uganda need to learn that our unemployment struggles can only be solved when we get out of our comfort zone and seek to take on challenges in our communities as the greatest opportunities.
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
Neale Donald Walsch
Contributed by Kavuma Johnmary
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