Petition to have unemployment declared a national disaster

A section of Kenyan youth have launched a petition seeking to have the government declare unemployment a national disaster.

In a statement to newsrooms on Sunday, the youth – under the auspices of ‘The Youth Congress’ – say unemployment needs to be given the attention and focus it deserves, adding that Kenya has a growing population of jobless youth.

“Currently, over 70 per cent of jobless people are youth. Over 1 million young people join the labour market annually with only a small fraction getting jobs,” reads the statement signed by Raphael Obonyo.

“Government’s youth empowerment programmes like Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), UWEZO and 30 per cent quota of public procurement for the youth are not enough compared to population of jobless youth.”

The youth are now seeking support of Kenyans to sign the petition titled ‘#NoToUnemployment’ to ensure action is taken to tackle the vice.

“Kenya is facing one of the greatest national disasters of all time putting the security and future of the country at risk. It is imperative for the government to declare unemployment a national disaster to ensure robust and appropriate interventions are put in place,” adds the statement.