STRATEGIC GAP ANALYSIS OF POLICIES SEEKING TO ADDRESS YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NAMIBIA: THE NIEIS

Abstract

Abstract Youth unemployment is a harsh, everyday reality experienced by at least every one in three young people in Namibia, aged 15 to 34. Namibia inherited a high unemployment rate and a low skills base at independence in 1990. It has since introduced instruments to reduce unemployment. However, almost three decades later, youth unemployment remains high and keeps rising. This research investigates strategic gaps in policies Namibia employs to address youth unemployment. It uses the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (NIEIS) as a lens through which to see the bigger unemployment challenge. Focused groups of unemployed youths from Windhoek, registered on the NIEIS, are used to gain a deeper understanding of how they experience unemployment, how it effects them and what coping strategies they use. The study suggests what needs to be in place to mitigate the impact of unemployment and what needs to be done to proactively addressing it. Results show that the type of unemployment Namibia experiences is predominantly structural in nature. The study also points to a disconnect between the unemployment type experienced and the strategies used to address it, and suggests this to be one of the key reasons unemployment remains untamed. Of particular importance is how unemployment disproportionately affects job-seekers with poor qualifications, a low skills set and a weak social capital more. Furthermore, results indicate that job search assistance, education and skills development, micro-finance, public works and employment schemes are among the strategies used to address unemployment in Namibia. Ironically, these strategies struggle to reduce unemployment due to conceptual and delivery deficiencies. This is particularly true, considering the disconnect between labour demand and supply. One of the recommendations the study makes is that modernizing and popularizing the subsistence agricultural sector could hold the key to the creation of rural decent jobs and self-employment opportunities.