Poverty, unemployment and youth at risk in Arusha, Tanzania… and what can we do about it?

Nicola Banks, University of Manchester

This paper explores the everyday risks facing young men and women living in a low-income ward of Arusha. It analyses the school-to-work transition of young people in this deprived area in a context in which the city’s development has been accompanied by high levels of informality and unemployment rather than job creation. Youth here are broadly perceived as criminals, drunkards and hooligans. This research situates the risk of young people getting drawn into gangs and criminal behaviours within the bigger picture of their poverty and marginalisation. Hopes and aspirations quickly become a distant dream for young people from poor family backgrounds. Jobs are scarce, exploitative and low paid, rarely offering a platform to more stable opportunities. This paper will explore the multiple obstacles that youth here face during their school-to-work transition, before discussing a simple and sustainable programme that we have started as a result of these research findings.