Youth Unemployment - An Adaptive Challenge

861 views . 01 Oct 2020

In this video, we will cover the second flag which is responses within the current repertoire inadequate. It is almost impossible for one to solve an adaptive challenge alone. When working with others and having to resist the leap to action, many ideas will be obtained on how the problem can be solved. The analysis of each option, involving the society to better understand the problem and possible work around increases the chances of providing a working solution.

Welcome to our video series on basic diagnostic framework. 

In the previous video we covered Persistent gap between aspiration and reality as the first social flag in identifying an adaptive challenge (Please visit our previous video for the details on Persistent gap between aspiration and reality).


In this session, we will cover the second flag which is responses within the current repertoire inadequate. It is almost impossible for one to solve an adaptive challenge alone. When working with others and having to resist the leap to action, many ideas will be obtained on how the problem can be solved. The analysis of each option, involving the society to better understand the problem and possible work around increases the chances of providing a working solution.

People in authority will apply technical fixes to most of the problems. They will implement many ways in their position to solve the problem. They will increase resources and even employ proven experts to handle the challenges. However, these options may always deem inadequate.

Scenario

Unemployment remains a major problem facing Africa and the rest of the world. Youth unemployment accounts for 60% of all of Africa’s jobless. According to the World Bank report, in North Africa, the rate of youth unemployment is 25% but is even greater in Senegal, Botswana, the Republic of Congo  and South Africa.

For many years, politicians have used youth unemployment in their manifestos; with the promise of creating more job opportunities. This has been a metric in rating the performance of different governments. In 2016, Ghana opposition leader used the high unemployment rate in the country to mobilize youths against former president John Dramani Mahama. 

In Africa, governments are tackling unemployment in many different ways. Some of the initiatives include creation of national youth service, youth policies and youth enterprise fund, increase in the financial allocations to youths funds to stimulate job creations. Statistics indicate that in Africa, there are about 10-12 million youths joining the labour market every year. The high number means youth unemployment remains a ticking time bomb. With every existing opportunity shrinking, youths have reacted to this differently. Youths have opted to move from rural to urban centers looking for jobs, university and college graduates have also opted for menial jobs to sustain themselves - even if it means cleaning hotel floors, being a factory labourer or selling mobile phone cards. In south Africa, xenophobia attacks have been reported as a result of youth unemployment. In countries such as Nigeria, Somalia and Kenya, youths have been recruited to join terrorists and other rebel forces. 



Despite governments employing different methods in reducing unemployment rates in the continent, the issue remains unresolved. Including all people in the discussion and listening to their inner voices is important in diagnosing an adaptive challenge. This will help people exercising adaptive leadership to understand the problem and the best way of solving the problem.

Thank you for watching. In our next lesson we are going to look at the third social flag of diagnosing an adaptive challenge Difficult learning required