Education and Life Skills

Quality of and access to education have been identified as some of the priority areas in the [Poverty Reduction Strategy]. There are a number of key challenges that face the youth in the field of education and life skills. Ensuring quality, free and compulsory education at primary and secondary levels is one of them. Non-formal education should also be strengthened in order to ensure sustainable development. Other challenges include student-teacher ratio, provision of education facilities and equipment. [...]

Unemployment and Migration

Unemployment is one of the key challenges facing youth in Lesotho. Employment creation and income generation were identified as priority areas in the PRS. According to the Labour Force Survey of 1999 unemployment rate in Lesotho was around 31 per cent. Of particular interest is the age group 20-24 which has unemployment rate of 35.8 per cent. This is more pronounced in females. The main reason behind the high unemployment in Lesotho is slow economic growth. There are other challenges to grapple with such as insufficient in-service programmes in the country.

Lesotho also experiences both internal and external migration. The poverty incidence in the rural areas has pushed sizable numbers of youth from the rural areas to the urban areas in search of job opportunities. This has been the strongest pull factor in recent times and can be attributed to an introduction of Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. Historically, Basotho men have been employed in the neighbouring South African mines. But factors such as falling prices of gold and other precious metals and the performance of the South African currency against major international currencies have led to continued retrenchment of our young men.

Due to various economic and other socio-political factors, civil society in Lesotho is largely uncoordinated, lacks a central organizing body and operates in relative isolation from the government. As such, limited information is available about Youth Civic Participation initiatives implemented by civil society organizations in Lesotho. One organization, the OlympAfrica Youth Ambassador Programme (OYAP), is seeking to engage young people in addressing specific social issues plaguing the youth population. Started in 2003 by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee, the Commonwealth Games Canada and UK Sport, OYAP uses sport as a venue to teach youth leadership, disseminate information on critical social issues, and prepare young people to provide peer mentorship to other young people in their communities. OYAP trains young people to develop their own creative, youth-focused programs centering on issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS and family issues. OYAP hosts 76 youth ambassadors who engage young people throughout the country. In addition to civil society initiatives such as this, the government and international organizations are expanding Youth Civic Participation opportunities.

In Lesotho, half of the 800 students that graduate tertiary school every year remain unemployed. Overall, Lesotho has a 45 percent unemployment rate. To address this, the Lesotho government has a number of initiatives, such as the Youth Volunteer Corps Project, aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals while also enhancing youth employment prospects. The UNDP and UNV programs in Lesotho are working toward fighting poverty, HIV/AIDS and food security, while also helping the Lesotho government manage environmental change and adopt sustainable practices with regards to its management of natural resources.