The Biggest Challenge in Cameroon

One of the most pressing short-term and indeed long-term challenges in my country is youth unemployment. The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015 revealed that 73.4 million youth were unemployed in 2015. The National Institute of Statistic sorted that the youth unemployment rate is 30%. 90% of youth are working in the informal sector and 75.8% of workers are underemployed, earning less than 23000 FCFA/month. Why? Lack of managerial expertise and capital, weakness of the cultural entrepreneurship, lack of a real national youth policy, the poor adaptability of vocational training institutions and corruption are the main causes.

Therefore there is a political and socioeconomic urgency of responding to this challenge of unemployment as a precondition to reduce brain drain, poverty, prostitution, suicide, street children, high crime waves, sexual harassment, gambling addiction, teenage pregnancies, and street children. This national scourge is slowing down the economic growth.

To achieve these goals, actions need to be taken by the government and youth. Government must intensify children’s education to ethical and moral values, develop an integrated strategy for rural development, facilitates the access to credit market and implement the Global Citizenship Education (GCED), a UNESCO’s teaching approach that aims in developing skills, values, attitudes and knowledge that empower youth to assume active role in their glocal environment. We must also develop our global consciousness, work hard and be responsible in order to positively impact our society and build a better world.