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In the wake of high unemployment rates in Uganda, the Democratic Party (DP) National Executive Committee has met to discuss the parties’ employment policy. The two-day workshop was supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The policies agreed upon are to be promoted mainly by the party members of parliament.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, KAS Country Representative, Peter Girke, underscored the need for political parties to develop policies. He stressed that any political party that aspires for national leadership must also have elaborate explanation of how it intents to run the different aspects of national development. It is on the basis of such (policies) that the voters will choose one party over another observed Mr. Girke.

Mr. Deo Njoki the party policy analyst indicates that policy development in the DP is going to be a continuous process. The question of unemployed is currently one of the major challenges to Uganda’s economy. With current statistics showing that about 83% of the country’s youth (who are also the majority of the population) are unemployed it is of crucial importance for stakeholders to work on promoting mechanisms for job creation.

By the end of the workshop party leaders had been introduced to the policy development process through a presentation by Mr. Wilberforce Kateisibwa, the Director of Training and Capacity Building at the Uganda Local Governments Association (UGLA). A substantial input on the issue of employment was delivered by Jasper Oketa Obwot a member of the KAS founded Young Leaders Think-tank for Policy alternatives. He outlined the current employment situation and the most crucial problems in Uganda, focussing on the effects on the youth.