Strategic planning and youths in Somalia
The world is evolving with exceptional speed. That profoundly influences the lives of the world’s one billion youths, with 85% developing nations. Contemporary social and political development is activating changes in the social framework of communities and states. From many angles of the globe, both in developing and developed countries.
This transformation has been how governments and societies prepare for their short, medium- and long-term objectives. Strategic planning is traced back to ancient military science and has progressively been adopted in sports, business, agriculture, and government policymaking. In many countries, strategic plans have targeted sectors of society that have great potential to make a difference in development and economic growth.
In many cases, youths are considered an essential component of society and are given special consideration in the country’s short, medium- and long-term goals. In Somalia, several debates and studies have been made concerning the youths. Some have discussed the need to involve youths in decision-making; other studies have focused on youth and conflict, while others have examined their role in peacebuilding. However, there seems to be little or no discussion of the place of youths in the country’s short- and long-term progress.
In other words, this kind of discussion may address the plight of youths in Somalia from a robust angle. Youths possess the needed energy for change if they affirm themselves as agents of transformation. However, to achieve this transformation, youths in Somalia will need support from multiple political, social, and economic spheres to overcome the existing constraints at the local and national levels.
The strategic plan will provide the youths with the needed standardized process through which they can evolve to become competitive actors in the region and the world. Strategic plans are designed by identifying the opportunities, threats, weaknesses, and strengths that exist in the country and can facilitate or affect youths’ progress. Once these are identified, they are turned into national goals that must be achieved within a specific timeframe. Noteworthy, this is what the people of Somalia have missed. Challenges affecting young people are often discussed separately and without adequate commitments as to when those goals must be achieved.
As young people need not only to acknowledge their rights, but the government and society must also see that these rights are adequately preserved by empowering youths to fully engage in political processes, civil society, economic development, innovation, and public service, among other roles. It should include the youth agenda in Somalia’s Nation development plan (NDP) 2022/4 and other similar plans.
Though young people have mostly deemed a cause and concern for social or political disturbance, they have proved their capacity and potential to figure out the challenges that surround the world today and future. The youth can also draw ideas and be active in determining solutions to increasing problems at the domestic level. They have demonstrated their talent in constructing bridges of discussion across cultures.
In the short term, the government should develop a clear plan to develop the education sector so that the system can produce young people with the competence to innovate and invent. It should look at diversifying and developing the necessary policy and infrastructure for different sectors where youths can be productive such as sports, art, small and medium enterprises, youths being awarded government tenders, and promoting self-employment. In the medium term, the government needs to develop centers for specialized training where young graduates can develop their skills further in line with emerging trends in information and communication technology, smart agriculture, precision medicine, and software development.
Similarly, in the medium term, the government can develop ways to train more young people in sectors such as construction and technical engineering. In addition, what can achieve proper representation and inclusion in politics, create more job opportunities and construct a distinct national identity in the medium term? In a long time, it is expected that Somali youths will be very competitive; therefore, the government can support them and secure significant funding for tremendous start-up projects.
The essay does not seek to define what needs to be included in the short, medium- and long-term plan for the youths in Somalia, as that is an area the youths themselves can best define. This writing sought to emphasize the need to plan the immediate and distant future of Somali youths in a proactive manner that captures a broad area and time frame.
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND YOUTHS IN SOMALIA- THE PLACE OF YOUTHS IN THE SHORT MEDIUM- AND LONG-TERM PLANS
About The Author: Dr. Mohamed BINCOF (Ph.D.), Lecturer, Consultant, and Researcher. You can reach him at email: bincof@gmail.com
