Youth unemployment strategies to reduce youth at risk in Jamaica
In January 2025, Commonwealth Alumnus Dr Kerissa Nelson delivered a training workshop to promote awareness of effective employment strategies for youth at risk in Jamaica.
Dr Kerissa Nelson is a Lecturer in Psychology at The University of West Indies Open Campus. Dr Nelson was supported by Commonwealth Alumnus, Tarik Dixon and members of the Commonwealth Scholarship Alumni Association of Jamaica (CSAAJ).
Her activity promotes the 2024/25 ACEF theme, Youth for sustainable development.
The rising challenge of youth unemployment
Youth unemployment remains a pressing issue in Jamaica, with many young individuals facing significant barriers to securing stable employment. According to the 2024 Statistical Institute of Jamaica report, the youth unemployment rate was 11% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Factors such as economic disparities, substance abuse, family instability, mental health, and a lack of access to education contribute towards youth unemployment and increase their vulnerability to be at-risk.
To address the challenge of youth unemployment, Dr Nelson designed and delivered a training workshop to provide youth at risk with tools to bridge the employment gap, foster a sustainable pathway towards career advancement and achieve economic independence. The workshop aligned with the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, which outlines Jamaica’s goal to foster economic growth and reduce unemployment by empowering youth with essential skills and employment opportunities.
One-day workshop for youth at-risk
On 23 January 2025, Dr Nelson and Tarik delivered a one-day workshop on ‘Pathways to success: Employment strategies for at-risk youth’, at the University of Technology (Utech), Jamaica.
The primary objectives of the workshop were to explore challenges and needs of at-risk youth, introduce evidence-based strategies to reduce risk behaviours, provide insights on supportive employment framework, encourage community partnerships, and encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among youth. The workshop was designed to provide youth participants with direct employment strategies, personal development skills, and networking opportunities.
The workshop was attended by 20 youth at risk from communities across Jamaica including August Town, Majestic Gardens, Naggo Head, New Lands, Spanish Town in St Catherine and Montego Bay in St James.
The workshop entailed a series of structured sessions, delivered by guest speakers representing the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information, Slashroots Foundation, a social impact organisation leveraging technology to support NGOs, governments and civil society organisations to deliver development programmes, the University of Technology, Jamaica (Utech), and mobile phone networks, Digicel and Huawei.
Discussing strategies for youth employment
Gihon Mitchell, Senior Youth Employment Officer at the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information discussed the root causes of youth unemployment. Through group discussions, he encouraged participants to identify and analyse barriers to employment, including education gaps and economic inequities. He was joined by Lee Ann Walker and a representative from the Slashroots Foundation, Nicole Rowe. Slashroots Foundation.
Following their session, Mrs Andrea Bolton-Fyffe, Manager of the Technology Innovation Centre at Utech, led a session on ‘Developing Effective Strategies for Youth Employment’. Through case studies and hands-on experiences, Mrs Bolton-Fyffe explored practical solutions such as entrepreneurship and leveraging technology to secure sustainable employment.
The final session was delivered by Gavin Myers, Policy Lead at Slashroots Foundation. Gavin highlighted the need to strengthen multi-sectoral partnerships for long-term youth employment solutions. He called for collaboration between businesses and communities to create job opportunities for youth.
Each talk was followed by a Q&A session, encouraging participants to reflect on the information shared and draw on the experience of the speakers to support their learning and development.
Continued support and mentorship
Dr Nelson gathered feedback pre-and post-workshop to assess participants’ level of knowledge and satisfaction. Before the workshop, 65% participants reported uncertainty about employment strategies. After the workshop, 90% participants felt more confident in navigating employment opportunities.
In their wider feedback, participants expressed a keen interest in entrepreneurship as an effective solution to long-term employment. They also appreciated the opportunity to receive ongoing mentorship support and career guidance to advance employability skills from those involved in delivering the workshop sessions.
Dr Nelson hopes to scale the activity to other regions in Jamaica to reach more at-risk youth and reduce youth unemployment.
Dr Kerissa Nelson is a 2018 Commonwealth Scholar from Jamaica. She completed a PhD in Education at the University of Plymouth.
