JUINTADE BLOG: Uganda UK Youth Convention

Quick browse on Eventbrite for a stimulating event, I came across an event called “2^nd Ugandan UK Youth Forum 2012”. As a lover of learning about international development of all sorts, it was something I could and should not miss.

This blog entry serves as my record(/minutes) to the event. Do take very good note that these are my views, hence feel free to have an opposing view.

“Young diasporas must be given opportunities to participate as respected partners in decision-making and action at all levels in order to be part of change”, was the main theme of the event. In a nutshell, it was to bring likeminded individuals together to discuss and come up with ideas that can be implemented so that the lives of the citizens back in Uganda can be made better.

Quick Pointers about Uganda

The country located in the eastern part of Africa.

Capital is Kampala,

Currency: Ugandan Shilling (UGX)

GDP (in 2011): US$16.81b (by world bank)

Population: 35.87m (of which 75% are youth)

There are two parts to this blog click here for my views on the Business session of the conference

THE YOUTH FORUM

Held in a separate room from the main business forum, and was conducted in open-ended discussion format. Attendees were encouraged to ask questions and make recommendations on how youth can become part of the change leading to better progression of Uganda. The master of ceremony (MC) was Moses Mwanje, and Co MC was Katasi Kironde.

Below are some of the key items as stated on the invite that the forum will discuss, and I think based on the two discussions that were conducted, they did cover the agenda pretty well. The items are reflected below.

· Youth – what is their role and responsibility in socio-economic development

· How have youth utilised their opportunities to cause positive change(s).

· What is the problem with youth especially in Uganda? – Unemployment, poverty, dependency, hopelessness and how can we help

· What can be done to mitigate these issues

· What is the role of other stakeholders to support positive change? – Governments, private or public sectors

Panels

Names (which I was able to capture) of the panellists and stated duration for each of the sessions are stated below:

Panellists 1: Gerald Byaruhanga (MP Youth Western Uganda), Moses Mwanje (SE1 United), Yahaya Kiyingi (London Liberal Candidate), Audrey Wagaba (Time2Move), Mpagi Kironde (Kaynet – ICT)

Planned Duration: 1hr 20mins

Panellists 2: Irene Mutumba (PEDN), Florence Labwo (Memory books), Rebecca Sali (ARK Translation), Solomon Mwebya (British Army), Phil Mugisa (FVM).

Planned Duration: 1hr+

Panellists 1 key members

Discussion Points

The forum did cover several areas, but the items that caught my attention more are narrated below. In some cases, I also provide my recommendations [R] which I think the organisers/attendees should consider and push forward, as it will be nice to come back to the next forum (v3) and demonstrate some form of measurable benefits.

Take on Corruption

There was a general consensus that corruption cannot be wiped out completely, but can be brought down to a reasonable level. An attendee made the point that there are other countries (e.g. Malaysia) out there that are more corrupt than Uganda, and the politicians don’t go about shipping the money out of the country to an offshore bank account. If the money remain within the Economy, then there is more benefit to be gained.

This point was one of the highlights of my day as I am strong believer that corruption is not the main issue of under-development of Africa, refer to my post here to get more insight.

There was a suggestion that all elected politicians should be made to attend Business acumen classes of some sort (sounds funny, but it’s a very valid point). The supporting argument was that since the politicians don’t know much about how to invest the (original) looted funds, they always have a reason to come back to office (in order) to loot even more.

As am addicted to figures, according to CPI(Corruption Perception Index), 2011 rating for Uganda was 2.4, compared to Kenya of 2.2, South Africa 4.1, and Rwanda of 5. The index is compiled by an institution known as “Transparency International”

[R] - My recommendation will be for the organisers to encourage the youth to come up with ideas or something that the government of the day should implement so that (perception of) corruption is reduced, and somehow encourage the politicians looting money to keep it with Ugandan Economy.

Progress can be measured by calculating the rate of change in CPI or some form of other known and acceptable Index.

Access to Public Officials

The youth believed that they should be able to easily gain access to their MPs(Minister of Parliament). Recommendation was also made that the youth minister should visit the younger generations in Uganda, and potentially encourage them to have a similar forum so that they can narrate their challenges to their representative.

Gerald Byaruhanga (MP Youth Western Uganda) made it clear that his people can easily get hold of him as he operates an open office policy. He also reminded the attendees that there is a website that clearly lists contact details (email, telephone, etc) for all the MPs that are in Uganda parliaments.

Mark T Jones (of Horn of Africa) pointed out to the forum that there is a website called “writetothem.com”. Based on a quick browse through, I can confirm that it’s a great platform that allows you to email all your councillors, Assembly Members, MPs, MEPs(Members of the European Parliament, and Member of House of Lords. The great thing is that you can find out who all these people are just by lodging in your postcode.

[R] - Recommendation on this front will be for the Ugandan youth to come up with something similar, or reach out to the creators of writetothem.com to work a deal to use the same code base, or enhance what Uganda govt probably have at the moment. That can be a quick win for all, and will be more useful for those of the diaspora.

Right Skills Empowerment - Agriculture v ICT v Engineering

General consensus was that there is “thirst for knowledge” in the youth of Uganda, and Africa as a whole. A representative from Greenwich University highlighted the problem that most of the Ugandan students leave schools/Universities without the right skills, meaning companies have a strong case to bring in foreign labour force, which in turn means more unemployment for the Uganda citizens – In a nutshell, there is need to ensure that students are well honed for the real employment life.

Judging by what I heard, Engineering seems to be a big sector that Uganda Government can leverage, especially the oil & Gas sector. There was also recommendation to encourage the youth to get onboard into such courses.

Mpagi Kironde runs a project that trains youth about computing, and confirmed that they had been some sort of successes. An attendee did state that he has funds (but no time), hence was there a means for him to contribute, and get a good ROI (Return on Investment). A sort of response was provided but I will recommend a platform similar to Kickstarter.com style platform should be created, so that such potential diaspora investors can provide funds for IT and (non IT) initiatives. Considering it’s not a charity, all the ideas on the platform must make business sense.

Yahaya Kiyingi (London Liberal Candidate) gave a supporting vote for the ICT project(s), but reminded the audience that there is strong case not to forget Agriculture. Based on his recent trip to Uganda, a few miles outside of Kampala, what he saw was that ICT probably won’t have much effect compared to Agriculture. Another attendee echoed the fact that some of the youth are selling inherited lands and moving to the city, where there is probably less chance of career progression. With population set to rise to about 8.9bn in 2050(UN Projections), feeding the world and self sustenance will be crucial, hence there is need for Uganda to have farmers. Another attendee stated that Nigeria made the same mistakes years back after finding oil(black gold), everyone went for quick return, the country is only now investing in the Agricultural sector in order to catch up.

My own view is that all the sectors discussed are very crucial, and no mistake should be made that one is more important than the other. An attendee made the statement that Uganda can’t be the next Silicon Valley, throw away comments like that are misleading and potentially discouraging; Kenya serves as a good example on the benefits that can be realised.

[R] - Few recommendations that the attendees of the forum should work on can be:

From Agriculture perspective – The youth should study, understand, and disseminate the knowledge to the masses on topics such as “land grabbing”, effect of US and EU Agriculture subsidies, food wastage along the food chain, etc.
From IT front – Uganda probably benefit from collaborating with the youth of Kenya, considering they probably made more progress than other countries in the region. The youth can encourage the government to define(if not already exist) and put in place a good patent structure. Coming up with the platform that enables the government of the day to be more open in terms provision of data might also be a measurable benefit for this forum.
The (experienced) youth should have influence on the curriculum used in schools and Universities. Recommendation can be made that local and International companies should be brought onboard to help define the curriculum; there is no point wasting 3 years of life in University only to realise that you are unemployable because you were busy learning old/out-dated methodologies, technologies, etc.
The youth can also encourage the government of the day to have a “cap” on the number of foreign workers that can be brought in on a yearly basis. United Kingdom currently use such idea to control immigration. There should be a fine balance so that it does not deter potential investors, but at the same time, the foreign companies should not be allowed to whine and get away with breaking the set cap.

Sex(ual) Perception

Conclusion I was able to deduce around this topic was that talking about “Sex” is near a taboo in the Uganda community. There was agreement between an attendee and one of the panellists (Florence Labwo) that something needs to be done to change this perspective, considering the benefit(s) will be immense.

It was highlighted that the youth in the age group between 16 – 24 are most at risk with regards to sexual diseases such as Aids, Chlamydia, Hepatitis B.

Language as competitive edge

A representative from Ark Translation, by the name of Rebeeca Sali, recommended the attendees learn other foreign languages, considering having a university degree(or Master) does not carry same weight as was it was 5-10 yrs ago, in the ever competing global Economy, so I think she is well spot on this front.

In my own view, Mandarin and Spanish (in preparation for the LATAM growth) are probably the best languages to learn, on the assumption that you already have good command of English.

[R] – Will recommend that Rebeeca ensure that she(or her organisation) also have some form of influence on the national curriculum of Uganda, especially at the younger age to nurture interest in other languages.

Joining the Military

Solomon Mwebya (a British Army Officer) brought to the attention of the attendees that there is a project that he and other colleagues are currently working on with the aim to provide advice and guidance to Ugandans that might want to join the Army. Also, they will like to provide some sort of support to retired Ugandan army officers that served in the British army.

The bigger picture is for them to be global, but with no political association to the Uganda government of any sort.

[R] - Will recommend that the organisers invite this bunch next time so that they can provide an update on the progress made on their initiative.

Credit must be given to the organisers for putting up the show, but it will be deemed a failure if the youth forum does not come up with creative ideas, select the ones to pursue, implement it, and measure the benefits(or success). After all, talking about something is the easiest part.

Will conclude with the remark made by the MC (Moses Mwanje), that how “we want things to work is totally different from how things actually work in the real world”. What this means, is that it will be a challenge, but based on the serendipity idea, the youth should continue to try and be in motion.

Links / Reference Sources

[a] Convention Website

http://www.ugandanconventionuk.org/?p=8952

[b] Memory Book Project

http://www.memorybooks.org.uk

[c] Ark Translation

http://arktranslation.com

[d] Horn of Africa

http://ha-ba.com

[e] Irene Mutumba (PEDN) – Key Coordinator of the event

http://www.pedn.org

[f] A means to contact UK political officers