The United Nations Development Program has advised the Rwandan government to extend more incentives to the youth to allow for greater involvement in accelerating sustainable economic and human development. 

This is one of the recommendations in the 3rd Rwanda National Human Development Report released virtually in Kigali on Thursday, August 12.

An entire range of incentives and opportunities for enhanced, active youth participation and influence should be explored and appropriate investments made, the report reads in part.

It suggests that the youth should be facilitated in active participation in homegrown solutions for socio-economic advancement such as leading and transforming Umuganda into community development platforms of the digital era.

The report also calls for implementation of innovative mechanisms and incentives to enhance private sector participation in the planning, financing, implementation and the scale-up of Imihigo projects.

The Rwandan economy is undergoing structural transformation that needs to pick up significant pace by enhancing productivity of the economy across sectors, it adds, "while creating adequate decent jobs employment opportunities for the youthful population and addressing unemployment and underemployment.”

According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), youth unemployment stood at 19.3 per cent in 2018.

The average for the Sub-Saharan Africa region was 13.9 per cent, according to the World Bank.

While Rwandans are less deprived of health care and education, the report found that more than half of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is due to income and other standard of living aspects.

The report shows that living standards contributed to 55.5 per cent of MPI in 2017.

Mushikiwabo’s message on International Youth Day

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, has said there was a need to reflect on concrete actions needed to respond to the many challenges young people face.

Tweeting in French on the occasion of the International Youth Day, on Friday, the former Rwandan foreign affairs minister said, "This generation, resilient, creative and full of resources, embodies the future of the Francophonie, it is up to us to invest in this human capital, source of energy and new possibilities.”