https://reasonstobecheerful.world/masaka-youth-desk/
"On most mornings, the line in front of Masaka City Hall forms before the door
opens.
There are those in search of jobs and others looking to grow small businesses.
A few come with complaints about broken streetlights, unsafe roads or
neighborhoods they feel city leaders have forgotten. Nearly all have something
in common: They are young, and they want their concerns taken seriously. In
Uganda, about 43 percent of young people aged 15 to 24 are neither in school,
nor working, nor receiving training. In a city where most residents are under
25, those statistics look a lot like the people standing in this queue.
Inside the hall, a modest office has become one of the busiest stops for those
young people. There, Winfred Nansikombi spends much of her day fielding
questions and relaying concerns to city officials.
“They always come with ideas,” she says. “Even when they are frustrated, they
still come. That means they still believe something can change.”
That mix of hope and frustration is hardly unique to Masaka. Across Africa,
young people are demanding more jobs and a greater say in decisions that affect
their lives. As urban populations grow younger, local governments are
struggling to respond to those demands.
In Uganda, with one of the youngest populations in the world, those pressures
cannot be hidden. In fact, in Masaka, a rapidly growing city in the southwest,
they have become central to how the city thinks about governance.
The Masaka Youth Desk that Nansikombi coordinates is a small but increasingly
influential unit within the city administration. Created to strengthen
communication between young residents and local government, the desk serves as
a place where young people can bring complaints and ideas directly to city
officials.
“This is like a place where government and the young meet,” she says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
