The president of the Republic of Zambia Mr Edgar C Lungu recently launched the 2015 National Youth Policy and Action Plan on Youth Empowerment and Employment. The President launched the two documents in Lusaka on 12^th August, 2015.

The two policy documents were developed as a result of a study that was conducted by the Ministry of Youth and Sport in collaboration with stakeholders which included the Ministry of Finance and other cooperating partners. The study revealed among other things that unemployment and under-empowerment were high among the Zambian youth. The study also found that there was a mismatch between the skills possessed by the youth and what was demanded by the industry.

Therefore, in order to address the situation, the 2006 National Youth Policy was revised to come up with the 2015 policy which emphasizes responsive youth programming by all stakeholders for more employment and empowerment opportunities. The Action Plan on Youth Empowerment and Employment was further developed to provide instruments and strategies for addressing youth unemployment and under-empowerment comprehensively through a multi-sectoral approach.