Strengthening business opportunities and socio-economic inclusion of vulnerable youth, women, and persons with disabilities

Rwanda has made notable strides to empower youth in entrepreneurship, skills development, and job employment; and prioritizes them as critical in achieving its Vision 2050. 70% of the Rwandan population is under 30 years old and 75% of youth live in rural areas where subsistence agriculture is the dominant source of income. Over the past two decades a number of youth centric policies and interventions have been developed and implemented. In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) established the National Youth Council, a platform to empower the youth to share their ideas and contribute to the national development. In 2013, the Ministry of Youth was established to streamline national efforts on youth empowerment and employment. Following the first National Strategy for Transformation (NST-1 2018 – 2024) that highlights youth employment as a pillar for national development, the Government of Rwanda established the National Employment Program (NES) focused on strengthening youth entrepreneurship, access to finance and skills development. Other initiatives such as YouthConnekt, and private sector youth chambers also serve as useful platforms for connecting youth to opportunities. As a result of such efforts among many others, annual average growth of youth participation in the labour force stands at 2.6%, above Africa’s average of 2.1%2. Youth unemployment also declined from 21.5% to 18% between 2016 and 2019.