Skilling Africa’s Youth – A Necessary Path to Peace, Poverty Eradication and Development

Sr. Oluwakemi Akinleye fsp – Lagos

Youth is a gift and a treasure in every society. The need to learn skills for self-improvement, alongside or apart from academic qualifications, is becoming an increasingly invaluable asset, especially for today’s youth living in these very difficult and challenging economic times. “The world today faces many challenges, many of which concern youth. Violent conflicts that disrupt education and stability, a polarized online environment that fosters negativity, and persistent economic inequality limit opportunities” (UNESCO).

Fortunately, there are many skills that young people can now learn. These include IT, graphic design, hairdressing, welding, catering, tailoring and car repair. These are jobs that are learned to bring out their talents and abilities, and often become sources of employment and income generation.

Are African youth interested in acquiring skills?

Despite the fact that many African youth have shown that learning and using skills, through hard work and determination, have become more empowering in society, there are still others who consider it a waste of time and prefer to look for fraudulent ways to earn a living. Unfortunately, some have fallen victim to human and drug trafficking because of this “looking for quick money” attitude. Despite this, there are young people who sincerely desire to learn useful skills but lack the funds to pay for skill acquisition courses.

Arise Foundation in collaboration with Nigerian women religious

Sister gives computer lessons to students in Nigeria

To support Nigerian youth in their quest for a dignified and better life, the Arise Foundation UK, in partnership with the Nigerian Conference of Women Religious (NCWR), has provided funding to over 200 youth for various short skilling courses in the country since 2022. Olaide, Ogechi, Blessing and Kingsley are some of the beneficiaries of this programme. They learned catering, tailoring and web development respectively. Each of them can now earn from the skills they have learnt.

Contribution to world peace and development

As we celebrate World Youth Skills Day, we celebrate our youth with all their energy, creativity and talents. We also convey their voices to families, governments, groups and organizations to invest more resources in their training, so that they in turn can contribute positively to the eradication of poverty, human and drug trafficking and to build a world of peace, progress and development. “It is crucial to equip youth with the necessary skills to nurture a culture of peace, to raise responsible global citizens and to promote sustainable development in order to build a more just, inclusive and sustainable future for all” (UNESCO).