Policy Briefs

Uganda has low official unemployment (about 3%), but this brief shows that 94.5% of employed youth work informally, nearly two-thirds are underemployed, and NEET is above 18%. It describes Uganda as stuck in a cycle of low-quality work. It recommends shifting effort from training towards creating demand for labour in agro-processing, light manufacturing, tourism and digital services. It also recommends merging overlapping schemes (the Youth Livelihood Programme, Emyooga, and the Parish Development Model youth window) and judging programmes by NEET, informality and earnings rather than job counts.

Read more: Political Economy Analysis of Youth Employment in Uganda