Youth empowerment as an educational incentive in Ethiopian rural areas

Abstract: With a tremendous demographic boom and the high importance of the youth population, Ethiopia is currently dealing with critical challenges to ensure sustainable development within the country. The recent appointment of Abiy Ahmed as prime minister has brought new hope for Ethiopian liberalisation and the improvement of former political systems. Positively impacting the non-governmental sector, concrete measures taken by the federal government are still lacking whereas time is running on the youth generation. Quality education and enrolment rates in schools remain low which has high consequences on the participation of youths in the labour market. Lacking basic skills, youth are not provided with opportunities and trust that are essential for favouring their self-development. Conducted in parts of Ethiopia’s rural areas, this research aims to understand, discuss and elaborate on different youth empowerment methods for educational incentives to contribute to the overall improvement of youth conditions. In collaboration with local and international stakeholders working on policy and field level in the country, this research provides the reader with a clear understanding of the Ethiopian youth sector situation and the need for improvement in order to ensure meaningful youth participation and empowerment towards inclusive sustainable change. The role of the government has been discussed in extent in order to provide the reader with concrete recommendations for policy-making and other issues related to skills-mismatching, access to resources, training, and data, as well as cross-collaboration between youth and other stakeholders to increase awareness about challenges faced. The study concludes with giving clear guidance on youth empowerment in Ethiopia and future research on the overall topic.