Sudan

Please provide us with your views on the state of youth (un)employment in your country, and how it affects your country's state of peace?

The unemployment rate in Sudan is extremely high due to the discouraging environment and hyperinflation. In addition to that, the youth constitute the largest percent of the population in Sudan. These two facts account for a serious crisis in my country. Firms are demotivated to invest in new businesses or to expand in order to create job opportunities. For this reason, along with the inadequate education and poor curriculums, the youth fall in the trap of unemployment. Therefore, they rely on marginalised jobs that do not require high level skills for income generation. These factors result in the instability of society and unfair distribution of income. Moreover, conflicts and crimes are becoming more common in the states, resulting in adverse effects on the community.

How does your work and/or activism promote youth employment and/or sustainable peace?

I aim to empower the youth in Sudan through entrepreneurship, as I believe in its powerful influence on youth and consequently the community and the country's economy. With the pressing economic conditions in the country, entrepreneurship can undoubtedly create decent job opportunities for individuals, through innovating ideas that can socially and economically tackle some issues. This will have a direct effect on the country's economy by increasing production and money circulation, hence increasing the GDP and reducing conflicts among people, specifically among ethnicities, over resources. My main strategy is to educate the public about the concepts and methods of entrepreneurship in order to strengthen and deepen the entrepreneurial skills among the community through mentorship. In the last five years, our organization IEC has resulted in the success of a pleasing number of start-ups that are now operating successfully and generating profits. Proudly,we have gone a step further now by establishing 249 start-ups, a platform for start-ups to grow, operate and seek potential investment both locally and internationally. I also aim to build global partnerships with organizations that can help entrepreneurs and provide opportunities for economic growth in Sudan.