Op-Ed: Somaliland government should recognize the potential of Youth

In this article, I will elaborate on the power of the youth and areas require widely consideration and frequently keep in mind.

According to Somaliland national population survey in 2014 shows that 72% of Somaliland’s population is below the age of 35 years, so the dominant group of the Somaliland population is youth between ages of 15 – 35 years. We unquestionably, know that youth in different countries shared their absolute contribution to their nations and led marvellous accomplishments. Youths are the machines and fuel of every social change. They facilitate a sort of ways to approach sustainable development and nation buildings. Their voices are used as cornerstones to amplify national development plans; youth are appropriate manpower that provides an accurate implementation of development strategies since they are active and constantly initiates new ideas. It is universally accepted that country’s youth is a brilliant approach that profoundly affects an entire generation of policy-makers and development specialists around the world as they can generate practical solutions.

Similarly, the role of youth in development is a well-known fact. In Somaliland, politicians and elders tirelessly repeat youth are the future of the country and tomorrow leaders but the possibility of youth can achieve this result is undefined. Somaliland youth meets numerous challenges including a high level of unemployment, lack of investment, inadequate skill development and unclear strategy towards youth political participation.

In short, our youth are the citizens and there are many ways that youth can help the country to achieve stable and prosperous developmental strategies so, the government should introduce policy and strategies that will help youth to overcome challenges like poverty, unemployment, dependency, limited skills, lack of investment and migration. In the current situation, the government should make a quick decision about mobilizing the resources to improve the quality of youth’s lives even under adverse circumstances.

 Most importantly, Youth in Somaliland requires necessary intervention to enjoy active participation of development and social improvements. Yet the government must also gauge whether Somaliland youth has the opportunity to be educated and whether they are free to use their knowledge and talents to shape their own destinies. As we clearly know Improvements are never automatic they require political will, courageous leadership and the continuing commitment of the government actions. Therefore, without investing our youth we cannot harvest harmony development goals.

About the Author

Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Osman ( Buqul)

Ahmedmaxamed90@gmail.com

Tell:+252 63 4214221

Master Candidate of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid

Development advocate

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Horndiplomat editorial policy.

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