By Felix Oketcho
In an effort to entice redundant youths to drop weed and engage in developing their God-given talent, the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development has crafted a ‘Ghetto Got Talent Search and Health Awareness’ campaign to roll out this November in popular Kampala slums.
The nine major ghettos in Kampala include Katanga, Makerere Kavule, Bwaise, Kimombasa, Kisenyi, Kamwokya, Kosovo, Namuwongo and Kivulu.
According to Sarah Mateke Minister of State for Youths and Children Affairs, the campaign will focus on promoting musical talent, dance, art and design, comedy, poetry, magic, fashion, and acrobatics that advance values of cultural development and national pride.
“One of our mandates as a ministry is to mobilize and empower communities to harness their potential while protecting the rights of vulnerable populations groups,” Mateke told TheSpy Uganda.
“The ‘Ghetto Got Talent Search and Health Awareness Campaign’ presents an opportunity for the Gender Ministry to explore a different framework for doing research that connects more explicitly with the Ministry’s objective of supporting marginalized communities in becoming healthy actors of social change through their various skills” she stressed.
Mateke clarified that the campaign was inspired by an assessment exercise in various slums that aimed at identifying what the youths of those communities prioritize, skills gaps, and capacity needs.
“This campaign will give the upcoming talented Ghetto youth an opportunity to showcase and develop on a national platform,” she noted.
Mateke said the government has formulated generally sound policies and programs and designed appropriate initiatives to support youths employment to tackle the current plight of the majority of the youth despite the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.
