Jobless and indoor, a 23 old single mother of 2, living in the Mbarara city suburb cries out to anyone for support with something to feed her family. I lost my job after the breakdown of the pandemic and consumed my little savings in the last 8 months of this pandemic. As Shine narrates. A neighbor would support but the majority of these are like her. My morning run ended halfway after meeting this young mother. My little support could not help her longer, Help her as well
As the country grapples with the second wave and third on its way of the deadly Covid-19, with less than 1% total population immunized, lockdowns are still the only available opportunity to limit community spread.
Uganda has the youngest youth population in the world, with 77% of its total population being under 30 years of age. However, 83% of this population is unemployed. This rate is even higher for those who have formal degrees and particularly live in urban areas. This is due to the disconnection between the degree achieved and the vocational skills needed for the jobs that are in demand for workers.
As a result, a few of this population has managed to start very small businesses majority of these couldn’t survive the first wave of the virus.
Months before World Health Organization announced the outbreak of the pandemic, young people were already feeling the pinch of the increasing cost of living and lowly staggering businesses and also paying jobs.
It is important to note that many youths specifically those in Uganda, have been hit harder by the second wave of the virus.
More stranded people dying of hunger and other diseases, rather than Covid
With people locked up at home with no food, desperate families have resorted to offering their children for marriage. More youth are mentally tortured with very little hope only waiting for the sun to set.
Given that a large section is unemployed, the majority remain stranded dying of hunger and other diseases, rather than Covid.
We are reaching out to desperate families in slums as we distribute the little food and cash from the generous people. Feel free to share what you have with desperate families whether directly to their phone numbers or through our team.
In the short run, any kind of support to purchase food and household basic needs is critical. However, in the long run, we are creating a fund to provide business startup capital and revolving funds through group savings, especially targeting the youth.
The fact remains that many youths are in desperate need of support, to mitigate the recession induced by the pandemic. truely, i can’t hold it any longer