UNDP Initiatives for THE REPUBLIC OF Youth in Uganda

UNDP is currently undertaking several initiatives designed to empower the youth of Uganda, with skilling, innovation priority and entrepreneurship serving as catalysts to enable UNDP’s broader development agenda in Uganda including 7sectors the eradication of poverty, promotion of sustainable development, creation of opportunities for empowerment, and achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its central mission Tourism to leave no one behind. Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world with a 3.7% population growth rate and 78% of Uganda’s population ICT being under the age of 30.

With more than one million young people entering the job market each year, the youth unemployment challenge is one Agriculture that UNDP is committed to addressing through equipping youth with vocational skills, increasing the competitiveness of youth within the labour market, building capacities of Manufacturing national institutions to mainstream youth employment, and supporting youth-led enterprises to pilot innovative ideas.

Youth4Business Innovation and provided an initial $10 million grant Renewable Entrepreneurship Facility on top of technical assistance, as Energy well as concessional loans, providing H.E. President Yoweri Museveni flexible funding mechanisms that will Launched the Youth4Business stimulate recovery of micro, small Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development and medium enterprises (MSMEs) Facility developed by UNDP in from the social and economic shocks Minerals partnership with Stanbic Bank borne from COVID-19. The initiative is Uganda to serve as a catalyst for expected to create at least 20,000 new innovation by enabling youth to Creative decent jobs for youth, retool and skill pilot and implement sustainable 50,000 youth, and have a multiplier Arts and commercially viable ideas and effect through the creation of over models. The five-year initiative has 100,000 indirect jobs. Youth Start-ups Connecting Informal Market Promoting the Creatives Vendors to E-Commerce The Youth IDEAthon is an initiative Recognising that creative industries led by the National Association of In response to the COVID-19 are a vital force in accelerating Student Enterprises (NASE) and pandemic and subsequent lockdown human development and supported by UNDP presenting measures, UNDP in partnership with socioeconomic transformation, entry level opportunities to Jumia Uganda set up an E-Commerce UNDP is supporting youth in unearth and nurture creative early- Platform to allow informal market Uganda’s creative sector through stage and startup ideas that can vendors to continue selling their a dedicated creative arts facility eventually feed into the pipeline produce online, while connecting that will provide a more structured of the Youth4Business Innovation rural farmers to urban markets and approach for engagement with the and Entrepreneurship Facility unlocking employment opportunities creative sector, including catalytic and form the next generation of and sustaining livelihoods with a financing and business and technical transformative, innovative and focus on women and youth. 3,000 advisory services. Round 1 of this inclusive MSMEs. This initiative market vendors from seven markets open challenge is currently open provides youth with an interactive across (, , and will support an initial 400 and collaborative process to develop , Bugoloobi, Kalerwe, creative projects through mentoring, and refine their ideas for products, Naalya and Kibuye) are now selling incubation expertise, access to services and solutions that help their produce online. Over 60% are tools and equipment, and financial Uganda respond to and recover from women, people with disabilities and support. the COVID-19 pandemic. The Youth youth. IDEAthon generated 3,586 unique This Creative Call targets any of the applications, engaged with over With over 300,000 unique products following categories: Performing arts 65,000 participants through online being sold monthly, there is evidence (Music, Dance, Song writing, Music information sessions, and identified to suggest that the informal sector is publishing , Audio recording , Music 14 partners to support with delivery. successfully adopting e-commerce distribution, Comedy), or Visual arts and the digital economy. This and crafts( Painting, Sculpturing, initiative has directly supported 925 Photography, Videography, Weaving, Scaling-up Youth youth in roles as market vendors, Galleries, Art markets), or Audiovisual Entrepreneurship market agents, produce pickers and and interactive media (film, Video, delivery riders, with many being TV and Radio Production, Internet UNDP has partnered with BRAC equipped with training on food streaming, Internet podcasting, Uganda to increase access to quality and safety. The platform has Video gaming, Computer games, employment and livelihood boosted the vendor’s daily sales, Animation) or Design and creative opportunities for 7,500 economically early indicators show a significant services (Fashion, Graphics, active youth in 17 target districts increment in daily earnings due Interior, Landscaping, Architecture, throughout Uganda. This will be to increase in interactions with Advertising), or Books and press achieved through equipping youth customers online. Preliminary (Books, Newspapers, Magazines, with relevant marketable skills, ethnographic research indicate that Book fairs, Libraries), and Cultural apprenticeship opportunities, customers are making savings on and natural heritage. business support kits, business transport costs and time by ordering development support, mentorship online as opposed to spending and coaching, as well as facilitating money when they physically visit the business and market linkages. markets. Since implementation this initiative has already reached 7,344 youth, of which 3,874 have identified for upskilling through vocational training while a further 510 are being offered business mentoring and recovery 12% kits. 7% 5% ICT Agriculture

3,586 health Youth Multiple Sectors IDEAthon Urban 29% 9% 6% 24% submissions Development Creative Arts Manufacturing Green Recovery and Digitalisation to rebuild a Resilient Tourism Sector UNDP in partnership with the Prior to the advent of the COVID-19 supporting food vendors to improve Ministry of Tourism, Uganda Tourism pandemic, Uganda’s tourism sector business hygiene standards, practice Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority was one of the fastest growing sustainable management of finances, is harnessing nature and digital industries contributing 6.2% of and promote environmental technology to stimulate recovery the country’s GDP and employing awareness through improved waste from COVID-19 and build a resilient 589,300 people. Since the pandemic, management and utilization of clean tourism industry in Uganda. visitor numbers have fallen from cooking technologies. 657,000 in 2019 to 473,000 in 2020, This initiative is demonstrating while the industry contribution to UNDP has also launched the how tourism can drive rapid Uganda’s GDP has fallen to 2.9% and Take on the P.E.A.R.L. Innovation socioeconomic recovery, utilizing the number of persons employed by Challenge Call, supporting the greener and risk-informed the industry dropped to 386,000. piloting and scaling of inclusive development pathways to support business solutions to drive recovery the tourism sector through Through this initiative, UNDP is of Uganda’s tourism sector. The creation of green job opportunities, also partnering with the Ministry initiative addresses business level investment in green MSMEs, strategic of Tourism and the Rolex Initiative barriers through targeted funding policy reorientation toward inclusive to conduct an 8-week capacity with targeted technical assistance. green recovery, and accelerating building exercise for 500 youth digital transformation and efficient food vendors across 10 designated energy solutions. districts within the Rwenzori region. Training sessions are aimed at

Trade4SMEs Graduate Volunteer Scheme With Uganda now a signatory of the African Continental UNDP launched the Graduate Volunteer Scheme in Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), UNDP is serving as the partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social lead partner for AfCFTA in Uganda and implementing an Development, with the objective of providing university initiative to establish and operationalize a Trade Financing graduates with access to workspaces in institutions to gain Facility targeting Ugandan manufacturing and exporting vocational skills. small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Having onboarded a total of 206 volunteers within 33 This initiative will lead to the realisation of necessary host institutions from key sectors of agriculture, finance, enablers including business development services, skills tourism, education, health, ICT and social development, training, access to trade financing, and regulatory reforms. this initiative continues to support youth engagement SMEs owned and managed by youth and women will through volunteerism to address Uganda’s development be awarded priority, with a focus on interventions and challenges. trade innovations that support access to new continental markets, regional blocs, and digital solutions to facilitate easier and more successful trade.

creating 20,000 new decent jobs

Youth4Business skilling 50,000 Goals creating youth 100,000 indirect jobs Youth empowerment through skilling, innovation and entrepreneurship, is a catalyst to enable UNDP’s broader development agenda in Uganda including the eradication of poverty, promotion of sustainable development, creation of opportunities for empowerment, and achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its central mission to leave no one behind.

Elsie G. Attafuah, Resident Representative

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Plot 11, Yusuf Lule Road, Nakasero P. O. Box 7184, Kampala, Uganda. : [email protected] : UNDP Uganda : +256417112100/30 : www.ug.undp.org : @UNDPUganda : +256 414 344801 : @UNDPUganda : UNDPinUganda