Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke-Herald Correspondent
THE United Nations has launched a US$50 million youth empowerment fund, running concurrently with the Government’s new National Youth Empowerment Strategy to harness the potential of young Zimbabweans.
The simultaneous launch of both initiatives at the National Youth Symposium, which was held last week, underscores a unified commitment to addressing the economic and social needs of the country’s largest demographic.
UN country resident coordinator, Ambassador Edward Kallon, announced the five-year UN programme, titled “Accelerating Youth Empowerment Through Access to Decent Economic Opportunities, Education, and Health,” which will span from 2026 to 2030.
“Youth empowerment is not a single, isolated issue but requires a holistic approach,” Amb Kallon said. “That’s why I am proud to introduce this US$50 million programme. It is aligned with your Government’s Youth Empowerment Strategy.”
The UN programme will target youth aged 15-35 with a focus on several key areas, namely, Economic Sector Engagement: Facilitating youth inclusion in agrifood, mining, tourism, manufacturing and trade through capacity building, start-up financing and partnerships with private firms for apprenticeships and job placements.
Education for Employment: Enhancing skills to create employable and entrepreneurial youth. Innovation and Digital Competence: Fostering a culture of innovation and Health and Development: Ensuring a healthy youth population can contribute to national growth.
Echoing the theme of proactive engagement, Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister Tino Machakaire, called for a fundamental shift in mindset among young people.
“There is need for youth to shift their mindset from the desire to seek employment to job creation,” he said. “We are nurturing a culture rooted in entrepreneurship, innovation and self-reliance.”
He emphasised that the symposium, themed, “Empower the Youth, Secure the Future,” was a direct intervention to break down structural barriers limiting youth participation in the economy.
The Government’s new National Youth Empowerment Strategy 2026-2030 was formally unpacked by agronomic engineer Ms Nancy Musa, who highlighted that it was developed through broad consultations with young people themselves.
“At its core, the strategy seeks to achieve three key shifts: from unemployment to productivity, from exclusion to inclusion, and from dependency to innovation,” Ms Musa explained.
The Zimbabwe Youth Council chairperson, Mrs Rutendo Mugwagwa, commended the Government’s efforts, saying, “This symposium is testimony of what happens when young people are supported. Empowering youth is an investment.”
She described the gathering as a powerful declaration that young people were active participants, not bystanders, in the nation’s journey towards achieving an empowered, upper-middle-income society by 2030.
