By our reporter.
Youth members of Parliament MPs, plan to table the Labour export fund Bill on the floor of Parliament next year, to push the government to pay for the youth seeking jobs abroad, through a partnership of labor export companies and the government.
This was disclosed by a youth member of Parliament for the Western region, Mwine Mpaka during the launch of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on youth affairs strategic plan for 2018-2022 at Parliament.
Mpaka said that once Bill becomes a law, it will push both government and the labor companies to pay for youth going for external labor and refund the money later through salary deduction as a way of fighting unemployment.
The forum however wants the government to institute labor export regulations and trafficking to improve the working conditions of youth in the diaspora.
It’s estimated that about 50,000 Ugandans have been deployed to 11 different countries especially in the Middle East, through 63 licensed companies under the externalization of labor Programme, under the ministry of gender labor and social development.
However the sector is still marred by several illegal labor export companies, Uganda has not signed bilateral agreements with several countries where Uganda exports labor such as Qatar, and Kuwait among others, apart from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Mpaka also added that as youth MPs they plan to introduce the youth development bank Bill which is ready to be tabled on the floor of parliament with an agenda to incorporate all the scattered funds targeting the youth through which they can be channeled and also serve as security for external funding.
He appreciated government and MoGLSD for YLPas to have been the most successful program as far as youth are concerned, but pointed out that it has several challenges that need to be reviewed.
