President Yoweri Museveni has urged youths across the country to form associations through which they can access government funds and become job makers and wealth creators.
The President was speaking during celebrations to mark International Youth Day where the chairperson of the National Youth Council Lillian Aber told the president that thousands of youths have either lost their businesses or jobs because of the effects of the COVID-19.
Museveni also launched the Youth for Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Facility.
The facility is designed to spur impact-driven entrepreneurship and engage enterprises in tackling youth unemployment by leveraging innovations in selected economy sectors, especially in the post-COVID era.
“The modern youth must get involved in waking up your family first, your village and your area. That’s what I did, when I came to Rwakitura after ‘A’ level,”he said.
Museveni said that there is money for NAADs and OWC, the Youth and Women funds, please access these monies and use them for commercial agriculture.
“Even the ancient Banyakole were more organized that our people today… everyone had a role then. You must belong to or target to belong to one of the commercial activities,”he said.
“The waking up already seen has boosted agriculture sectors like coffee production. I’m going to start a leather tanning industry in Kawowo.I have told some of the youths to involve themselves in bull fattening,”he said.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Rosa Malango,said Uganda has the second youngest population in the world.
Malango said the United Nations in Uganda has carried out a social-economic analysis of COVID-19 impact which has revealed that up to 60% of informal enterprises have stopped operations.
“To ensure stronger synergies and complementarities between the various UN-Youth initiatives, I am happy to mention that the youth whose ideas will be selected under the one million SDG solution innovation challenge can benefit from facilities being made available,”she said.
