Youth empowerment fund providential

population. However, given the economic downturn of the past decade that depressed industry and killed many jobs and opportunities, many youths find themselves with nothing to do upon completing their high school, tertiary or university education.
These idle youths need to be empowered economically through job creation to help push back the frontiers of poverty and also to protect them from the temptations of the road to perdition.
Unoccupied young adults will be in a state of immense uncertainty and apprehension. They will be at a volatile stage in life when they struggle to discover themselves, make vital decisions and embark on a voyage that will profoundly shape their future. How a nation harnesses the energy of these restless young people has a bearing not only on individual lives but also on the overall direction of society.
This bids the government to create an enabling environment to empower this critical mass so that it does not turn to mischief or be left at the hands of those with sinister political motives who ply the youths with beer to carry out nefarious political campaigns.
The indigenisation and economic empowerment programme gives our nation a glorious opportunity to harness this critical mass, empower them so that they not only create employment for themselves but their peers as well.
Youth empowerment is not a matter of cheap sloganeering; it is a strategic necessity and the nation’s very existence depends on it. As reported in our sister paper, The Sunday Mail this week, there are reports that one of the parties to the inclusive Government – the MDC-T – has recruited 340 youths to be grouped into what have been dubbed “reaction teams” that have instructions to whip up terror campaigns ahead of elections likely to be held in the first quarter of next year.
Empowered youths will not fall play to such sinister campaigns
We are, however, fortunate that the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme presents a perfect opportunity to address the concerns of this critical group.
To this end, we hail the US$11 million Youth Development Fund, a loan facility provided by Old Mutual as part of efforts to empower young people, that was launched by Vice President Joice Mujuru last week.
The fund, that was unveiled during African Youth Day commemorations held under the theme “Accelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development,” is expected to go a long way towards improving the lot of young people.
The facility, which would not require collateral, will be administered through Central Africa Building Society and was negotiated through the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment.
As VP Mujuru said during the launch, the fund should take youths away from the streets, away from promiscuity, violence and drug abuse and all forms of maladies afflicting our young population today. The beauty of this scheme is that it teaches youths to fish rather than gives them fish.
We hope the government will ensure that the fund benefits the target group so that it helps restore hope to this vulnerable group.