Assessment of Urban unemployment:

Is it a challenge in ensuring good urban governance in Dire Dawa Administration?

 

Belay Felek Alemu

MA in Development Management, Lecturer at Dire Dawa University, Ethiopia.

 

ABSTRACT:

In Ethiopia, urban unemployment is one of the challenges of urban population including Dire Dawa City where significant number of population is suffering from. According to the CSA (2018) employment- unemployment statistical survey report, the urban unemployment rate in Dire Dawa city is 25.3 percent. The unemployment rate among females is higher than males which accounts 33.5 percent and 17.6 percent respectively. The study has the major objective assessing the urban unemployment in Dire Dawa City. Data was basically drawn from secondary sources. It employed the annual statistical report of urban employment- unemployment survey (2018) by Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency. The study reveals that the rate of urban unemployment in Dire Dawa city is the highest in Ethiopia and far from the national unemployment rate which 19.0 percent. The survey report was supported with interview of individuals working in Dire Dawa economic bureau to triangulate the collected data. The unemployed population wants to work any available job to relief from their family assistance and support themselves and their families. Surprisingly, more than one third of unemployed population want to establish their own business, though still they did not do because of different constraints mainly shortage of finance, lack of training and finance and lack of place of working. Besides, the illiterate and trained urban population is more unemployed than that of the illiterate one which implies education doesn’t guarantee for employment. The study also focused on the challenges of this high rate urban unemployment on urban governance. Accordingly, the urban unemployment has challenges in many aspects including but not limited develops anti-social behaviors, tension and conflict, creation of Hoodlums in the city, etc. These factors have a direct effect on the implementation of urban governance in Dire Dawa City as it is a challenge for coordinating the various actors in the city (government, private sector and community). In order to solve these problems, the government should create suitable working environments for those who want to establish their own business including provision of financial credit without any collateral, working place and continuous training on entrepreneurship concepts with the collaboration of nearby higher institutions. In addition, the Dire Dawa City should consider this problem and take a serious measure to minimize the unemployed population and should focus on labour-intensive investments that can employ huge man-power at a time. Finally, these persistent unemployment is not only affected the individual life but its effect is a major challenge to the urban governance in terms of increasing the anti-social behaviors, tension and conflicts, etc.

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Currently, unemployment is one of the several socio-economic challenges prevailing in all countries around the world. Though some countries have suffered the worse rate of unemployment than others, it is one of the major challenge of urban phenomenon in many countries (B. Paul, 2005 and F. Nazir, M. A., et al, 2009). The problem of unemployment has a serious effect on both the living standards of the people and the socio-economic status of a country (F. Nazir, M.A., et al). As the unemployment is coupled with population growth and poverty, it has a momentous impact on development and growth of the economy. Moreover, unemployment has the effect of wasting economic resources (including productive labor force) as well as affecting the growth potential of an economy in the long run. The problem of unemployment is worse (in urban area) as it gives rise to private and social problems in the society mainly crimes, suicides, poverty, alcoholism and prostitution (Rafik et al., 2010 and Eita and Ashipala, 2010). In Ethiopia, the problem of unemployment is a central concern of development and more recently the discussion has focused on unemployment in urban sectors. Currently, the high rate of unemployment is the challenges of many urban centers in Ethiopia. Furthermore, urban unemployed problem is exacerbating due to the huge rate of rural-to-urban migration to urban centers. According to the CSA (2018) employment- unemployment annual survey report, the rate of unemployment in the current status approach for urban areas of the country is 19.1 percent and the rate of unemployment for youth is 25.3 percent. At national level, Dire Dawa City has the highest rate of unemployment which accounts 25.3 percent.

 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Unemployment and the inefficient labor market of urban areas is one of the central elements of Ethiopia’s developmental challenge. In Africa, Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing urban populations with approximately 4 percent of urbanization rate (MUDC, 2013). Currently, it is estimated that, Ethiopia has more than 18 million populations living in urban areas (CSA, 2018). Urban population growth is not only the feature of Addis Ababa but is also of numerous secondary cities including Dire Dawa, Adama, Bahir Dar and other regional cities which leads

 

Ethiopia’s urban centers under great stress due to, mainly, unemployment. Despite some improvements in recent years, a high level of unemployment continues to be a serious social problem and major policy challenge facing urban Ethiopia (Marta, K. 2012). Many researchers conducted so far tends to concentrate on the incidence of unemployment at aggregate of rural and urban level (country-wide) or it focuses on specific population categories such as urban youth or/and women unemployment (Getenet, A. 2003, P. Serneels, 2004, N.H., Broussard and Mesfin, M., 2012). Others attempt to deal the issue of unemployment at national urban level integrating it with labor market and efforts and challenges of employment creation. Hence, it is rare to find recent studies on unemployment problem in a particular urban area like Drie Dawa (Tegegn, G., 2012). The argument here is that for the better understanding of urban unemployment in Dire Dawa city and for comprehensive actions aimed at improving the problem it is better to have a look at the current urban unemployment of the city. Therefore, this study tries to give a brief insight into current unemployment situation and its challenge in implementing urban governance in Dire Dawa City.

 

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:

The general objective of this study is to assess the urban unemployment and its challenge in ensuring good urban governance in Dire Dawa City.

 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

Under the umbrella of general objective, the study has the following specific objectives.

1.     To identify the challenges that deters employment creation in Dire Dawa city.

2.     To examine the characteristics of urban unemployment in Dire Dawa city.

3.     To examine the challenges of urban unemployment in ensuring urban good governance in Dire Dawa city.

4.     To suggest possible policy interventions to improve the employability of urban unemployed population in Dire Dawa city

 

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Overview of urban unemployment in Ethiopia:

International Labor Organization (ILO) defines unemployed population as numbers of economically active who are without work but available for and seeking work, including people who have lost their jobs and voluntarily left work (WB, 2007). Like other markets, the labor market has two sides: supply and demand sides. The supply side (alternatively termed as the labor force or economically active population) has the component of the employed and the unemployed (Hussmanns, 1989). Similarly, the demand side consists of jobs (filled posts) and job vacancies (unfilled posts).

 

According to Olsson (2009), “since labor is not a ‘normal’ good, we do not have a condition where labor demand equals labor supply at equilibrium wage rate. The prevailing situation in countries around the world is instead the demand for labor is less than the supply due to the higher than equilibrium wage rate and hence there is an excess supply of labor. This gap between the supply and the demand for labor is referred to as unemployment.”

 

Causes of Unemployment:

The economists extensively debated over the causes of unemployment. According to the Keynesian economics, inadequate aggregate demand in the economy is the major cause of unemployment. This means that real wage rigidities and real interest rates cause low output which, in turn, leads to high unemployment. Real wage rigidity, "the failure of wages to adjust until labor supply equals labor demand" according to Mankiw (2002) can cause unemployment.”

 

Studies from urban Ethiopia indicate that the potential causes of unemployment includes; low level of job creation, the rising of internal migration, literacy rate, increasing number of youth labor force, poor to modest macroeconomic performance and low level of aggregate demand in the economy (Getinet, 2003 and WB, 2007). When we see in other countries, for example, Kingdon and Knight (2004) prevails that unemployment in South Africa is determined by education, race, age, gender, home ownership and location among others. The study by Echebiri (2005), finds that unemployment is influenced by age, marital status, dependency ratio, education, current income and employment preference (paid or self employment). In Jordan age, gender, marital status, region, work experience and educational level are the major determinants of unemployment (Alhawarin and Kreishan, 2010). Therefore, [youth] unemployment is the outcome of different socio-economic and demographic factors at macro level (related to the national issues) and micro level (directly associated with individuals’ demographic and socioeconomic attribute) (Toit, 2003).

 

Costs of Unemployment:

Nationally, unemployment comes up with costs. In order to analyze, the costs of unemployment one should start by disaggregation (Feldstein, 1997). The costs of unemployment can be classified broadly into private and social. The private cost of unemployment refers to those costs borne by the unemployed themselves. While the social costs on the other hand refers to those costs to the nation at large. It is also the cumulative result of private costs. Besides, this approach argues that the cost of unemployment can be seen as the opportunity cost of unemployment to the nation. In other words, the cost is the national income forgone (Feldstein, 1997 and Haile, 2003).

 

According to the Rafik et al., 2010 and Eita et al (2010), the cost of unemployment results in a waste of economic resources such as the productive labor force which, in turn, affects the long run growth potential of the economy. This unemployment gives rise to poverty rates, increased crimes, suicides, alcoholism and prostitution. In order to prevent these evils, the government come up with a cost and channel resources which rather could have been used for other developmental purposes.

 

Unemployment may also have a scary effect. Previous spell in unemployment has a discouraging effect on future participation in the labor force, earnings and welfare in general (Haile, 2003). The unemployment situation of the parents has an effect on their children. This is supported by Dao and Longani (2010), as “children of jobless parents tend to perform less in their education in the short run. In the long run, a parent's lost income due to unemployment reduces the child's earning prospect. Unemployment has an adverse effect on health and mortality via its economic, social and psychological effect on the unemployed.”

 

Overview of labor market in Ethiopia:

According to the central statistical agency of the Employment and Unemployment Survey, the total urban population of the country is estimated to be 18,773,035 as of June 2018. One of the effects of such large urban population is increment in the size of the labor force. The sizes of the economically active population of the urban parts of the country in current status approaches are estimated to be 9,289,150 persons with activity rates of 62.0 percent.

 

According to MoLSA (2009), employment generation has two important dimensions, namely, the demand and supply side of job creation. The demand side of the job creation is the ability of the economy to create jobs for the skillful labors based on the requirement of the economy. While the supply side of job creation concerns on whether the skill levels of available persons match with the type of skills required by the economy. Besides, there is a third dimension-labor market institution. It focuses on the governance of labor market relations and labor market services. The existing institutions and legal entities mainly concern the formal and wage employment sector.

 

When we came to Ethiopia, the five year development plans are the main guidelines of the government policy which outlines the overall strategic priorities and policies of the government. It emphasizes creating employment and income-earning opportunities in modern sector, informal sector and farms. This development pan has given a special attention to unemployment and underemployment to youth and women.

 

A plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) [2005/6-2009/10 plan] explicitly acknowledged the issue of the labor market and unemployment especially youth unemployment.

 

It focused on job creation in participation of private sector with particular emphasis given to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE), based on their potential to create employment opportunities.

 

The plan addressed improving the quality of education and integrating Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with the job requirements of the economy. It was identified as key problems leading to rising unemployment particularly in urban areas.

 

Other solutions included special efforts in providing skills training to the unemployed and public works employment interventions (FDREb, 2004; MoFED, 2006). TVET in Ethiopia offers programs that target those students who do not progress to higher levels of education with the aim of providing the students with skills and competencies for engagement in wage employment or self-employment (MOE, 2006).

 

The five-year development plan of Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), 2010/11-2014/5, attempts to improve the performance of the various sectors in the economy rather than explicitly address the issue of youth unemployment. The plan addresses the economic and social challenges faced by women and youth. The plan provides special attention to private sector development, particularly MSEs and continues to receive special attention as potential employment hubs and poverty reduction mechanisms. Moreover, “the plan emphasizes tailoring TVET programs with the demands of the economy and to continue to scale up MSE expansion as strategies tackling unemployment in the country” (MoFED, 2010).

 

What is Urban Governance?

Urban governance is a conducive environment including adequate legal framework, efficient political, managerial and administrative processes that help the local governments respond to the demands of the citizens. It is a technique of organizing the institutions and the individuals in the day to day management of a city and a process of effectively realizing the short term agenda for the development of a city (Azu, Victoria N., 2018).

 

Why is Urban Governance Necessary?

The experiences of many countries showed that the increasing of urbanization and population growth concedes with large cities and local economic areas. This is true more in developing countries. This is because the advancement in transportation and communication network, results people to travel long distances from rural areas and smaller towns to larger cities with increasing flow of goods and services for information and commercial activities.

 

The core (urban areas) and the peripheries (sub-urban) economically link and become more complementary so that one can’t succeed without the other which, in turn, leads to the growth of metropolitan regions. It can be more elaborated as follows.

 

Historically, local governments operate within defined jurisdictional boundaries, but urbanization often changes the character of an area over time. An urban area usually includes a number of independent local government jurisdictions. Thus, an urban area may emerge through an outbound growth of a city or through a gradual expansion and integration of various settlements which form an independent agglomerated metropolitan area overtime. As cities emerge and grow, the need for metropolitan level management increases. Metropolitan regions usually need a form of institutional arrangement, formal or informal ones to coordinate their development through a joint effort for more efficient and equitable service provision and delivery; and cost sharing with higher density areas requiring higher coordination (Azu, Victoria N., 2018).

 

Theoretical Models of Urban Governance:

In Ethiopian, the urban governance system involved various actors in the process of governing cities. These include the federal governments, regional states, local urban government, the political parties, civic and charity societies or civil society organizations and the private sectors. The elite and pluralist theories are the most common theories that are categorized under the political process model. According to Bowman and Kearney (2011), elite theory argues that a small group of leaders (elite) possesses power and rules society. On the other hand, pluralist theory hypothesizes that power is dispersed among competing groups whose clashes produce societal rule.

 

Therefore,” the elite theories are useful frameworks to examine the degree of power concentration of each state and non-state actors. While the urban regime theory mainly concerned with forms of collaboration that lead to economic growth (Harding and et al., 2000), and is important in understanding the composition of urban political coalitions made up of both state and non-state actors (urban regimes‘) and the way they interact and take decisions (modes of cooperation‘)” ( Endale H., 2017).

 

METHODOLOGY:

The study mainly emphasis on analysis of Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA) employment- unemployment statistical survey reported in 2018 with relevant literatures.

 

After collecting of secondary data from this report, descriptive analysis was made based on the existing facts and figures to show the urban unemployment trend of Dire Dawa City. Further, additional secondary data from Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as well as from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has been collected to support the analysis process. However, the finding of the study is not sufficient to claim for all encompassing collection of data.

 

In order to triangulate and supplement secondary data, the researcher conducted an interview through purposively selecting experts at Dire Dawa Bureau of Finance and Economic Development. Even though the data collected in such a way doesn’t help to arrive at conclusion, it is important to support the secondary data; see their perceptions/views on unemployment, the constraints of employment, the available employment opportunities and the interventions to be taken for creating job opportunities to reduce unemployment. The qualitative data generated from interviews was organized and analyzed qualitatively through content analysis. For this reason, the collected data from the informal discussion was translated from Amharic to English language. After reading all of the qualitative data, it was reviewed and organized to develop a general understanding of the data set. Then, through narrative description the result of the entire qualitative data was analyzed and interpreted. In so doing, the information generated from interview is integrated with the analysis of facts and figures of secondary data.

 

Data Analysis:

In terms of unemployment rate, Dire Dawa City has the highest urban unemployment rate in comparisons of all urban areas in Ethiopia (Note: the data of the tables are collected from CSA annual report of unemployment-employment survey, 2018).

 

Table 1: Personal background

	Percentage
Sex: Male Female	35.8 64.2
Marital status: Never Married Married Divorced Widowed Separated Live together	39.5 43.8 7.3 6 3.4 _
Literacy status: Literate Illiterate	83.4 16.6
Work Experience: With work experience Without work experience	62.2 37.8
Training status: Trained Not trained	20.4 79.6
Unemployment rate: Male Female	16.4 32.6

 

According to the Central Statistical Agency urban employment – unemployment survey report (2018), unemployment rate of Dire Dawa City is 25.3 percent followed by Tigray Region (21.5 percent), Addis Ababa City Administration (20.2 percent) and Amhara Region (19.7 percent) respectively while the lowest unemployment rate (7.2 percent) is reported from Benishangul-Gumuz region. The survey result also reveals that the urban unemployment rate at national level is 19.1 percent.

 

The majority of unemployed persons are female which accounts 64.2 percent while the male share is 35.2 percent. Around 43.8 percent of them are married and 39.5 percent have never married. The remaining respondent considered themselves as ‘divorced’ (7.3 percent), ‘widowed’ (6 percent)’ and ‘separated’ (3.4 percent).

 

The survey shows the level of literacy in Dire Dawa City is 83.4 percent while the remaining 16.6 are considered as illiterate. In this survey, a person is considered to be literate if he or she can read and write; otherwise, considered to be illiterate. Out of the total urban unemployed persons in Dire Dawa around 62.2 percent had work experience and 31.8 percent have no previous work experience prior to the survey date.

 

Similarly, the majority of urban unemployed persons (79.6 percent) in Dire Dawa Administration have not trained prior to the survey date while the remaining (20.4 percent) has got training prior to the survey date. According to CSA any sort of theoretical or practical training exercise provided in class or outside class rooms and that has awarded certificate or diploma is considered as training.

 

Approaching of searching jobs:

Table 2: Procedures in seeking work

Steps taken to search for work	Percent
Searching vacancy advertising boards Through news paper, radio and TV I have unemployment card Seeking assistance of friends, relatives, etc. Trying to establish own enterprise Direct application to employers Checking at work sites Browse through internet/ website Others Not seeking job	16.3 0.3 1.2 16.5 9.7 1.3 14 - 1.5 39
Total	100

 

Respondents were asked what mechanisms used in searching of jobs. Accordingly, significant number of persons (16.5 percent) responded that in order to get a job they seek assistance of their friends, relatives, etc. Similarly, 16.3 percent respond that they search vacancy advertising boards, 14 percent checking at work sites and 9.7 percent trying to establish own enterprise. The remaining 5.8 persons search the job through news paper, radio and TV, unemployment card, direct application to employers and others mechanisms. Surprisingly, the highest unemployed person (39%) doesn’t seek any Job.

 

Challenges of job creation:

Table 3: Categories of works looking for

Type of work seeking or available for	Percent
Self-employment Paid employment-private Paid employment-government Any available work Others	35.4 5.5% 5.2 % 53.5 0.4
Total	100

 

As per the survey results appeared in table 2, the majority of unemployed about 53.3 percent were available to take up any kind of job followed by persons who sought or intended to establish own business (35.4 percent), while those who were looking for paid job in private institution accounted to be about 5.5 percent followed by 5.2 percent in government sector and the remaining other covers only 0.4 percent. The same pattern was observed for the two sexes.

 

Table 4: Challenges in establishing self business

Types of problem faced to start own business	Percent
I have No problem Shortage of finance Lack of training Problem of working place/land Lack of finance and training Lack of working place and finance Lack/ absence of License Shortage/ Absence of equipment Lack of information Lack of support from Household Don't know Others	0.5 75.5 3.8 5.6 7.4 3.4 -- -- 0.5 -- -- 3.3
Total	100

 

If 35.4 percent of unemployed would like to self-employment why they are unemployed so far? This is because they faced many challenges not to start their own businesses. Among unemployed population those who attempt to establish their own business were asked to state what difficulties they have been faced. The great majority of unemployed (75.5 percent) persons replied that shortage of finance is the main barrier to not establish their own business. The next important reason is lack of finance in combination with training followed by lack of working place/land, lack of training, lack of working place in combination with finance accounted of 7.4 percent 5.6 percent, 3.8 percent and 3.4 percent respectively.

 

Consequence of unemployment on the lives of unemployed:

Table 5: Major problems faced due to unemployment

Types of main problems faced due to jobless	Percent
Decreased household/ personal income Unable to cover household expense Unable to send children to school /cover school expense/ Family dissolution Getting stress Hopelessness Exposed to differed addictions Hunger and luck of clothing Isolated from social Participation Fed up looking for a job Others	63.3% 12.3% 1.2% 0.2 % 2.8 2.8 1.7 0.7 0.7 5.8 4.4
Total	100

 

 

The unemployed of urban persons were asked the types of main problems faced due to jobless by giving various alternatives. Based on their response, 63.3 percent of them explained that decreased household/personal income was the fundamental problem faced so far due to joblessness. And 12.3 percent replied that jobless challenge them unable cover household expenses. The other challenges the respondents mentioned due to joblessness were unable to send children to school /cover school expense/; family dissolution; hopelessness; exposed to different addictions; hunger and luck of clothing; isolated from social participation; fed up looking for a job; and others in all accounts not more than 25 percent. If the joblessness suffers such problems in the personal lives of the unemployed persons and society at large, then what is main reason for not found Job? There are numerous obstacles that hinder the Dire Dawa Administration unemployed not found a job.

 

Table 6: Key barriers not found urban jobs

Main reason for not found job	Percent
No work was found related to in my profession Lack of job opportunity Lack of Training Lack of experience Lack of vacancy advertisement Introduction of modern system of work In search for better job opportunity Not to work at distant place To alter the usual place of work Low payment/ salary Slack period Off season Inconvenience of working time Unable to speak local language Others	5.5% 56.5% 12.4% 5.5% 1.7% 1.4% 4.3% 1.4% 0.5% 0.6% 4.2% 0.8% - - 5.2%
Total	100

 

Based on the survey, lack of job opportunity (56.5 percent) and lack of training (12.3 percent) takes the lion share followed by lack of experience (5.5 percent), lack of work related to the profession (5.5 percent) and other factors (5.2 percent) respectively. The rest of the respondents listed other hindrance factors that limit not to found jobs including, in search for better job opportunity (4.3 percent); slack period (4.2 percent), lack of vacancy advertisement (1.7 percent), introduction of modern system of work (1.4 percent), not to work at distant place (1.4 percent); off season (0.8 percent), low payment/ salary (0.6 percent) and to alter the usual place of work (0.5 percent) respectively. However, all these factors cover only 15 percent of respondents.

 

Consequences of unemployment on society:

Table 7: Ways of getting support for their lives

Means of supporting their lives	Percent
Casual Work Family Support Support from Relatives and Friends Saving Remittance Begging Others	3.1% 83.1% 5.9% 1.7% 4.3% 1.2% 1.7%
Total	100

 

The survey tried to assess how unemployed persons are leading their live in such circumstances of unemployment condition. Accordingly, the highest number of persons (83.1 persons) replied that they are supported by their family followed by support from relatives and friends (5.9 percent) and remittance (4.3 percent). While the remaining unemployed explained as the get support from Casual Work (3.1percent) saving (1.7 percent), begging (1.2 percent) and others (1.7 percent). This implies that the significant numbers of unemployed persons are directly depending on the support of their family which, in turn, affects the economy of the country.

 

The challenges of urban unemployment on the urban governance in Dire Dawa City:

Among the urban centers of Ethiopia, Dire Dawa City has the highest urban unemployment rate report, according to the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency urban employment-unemployment survey annual report of 2017and 2018. The geographical location of the city attracts and many rural people are migrated, especially, from the Eastern part of the country. Thus, countless number of people migrated from different rural communities to the urban centres in search of jobs as it is the center of attraction. The migrates are diverse in terms of age, sex, education, experience, skills. At the initial stage of urbanization, employment opportunities do exist from government, industries and the organized private sector including non formal sector.

 

For example, in Ethiopia, the urban unemployment rate in large cities is greater than that of the small cites. This is because the migration rate is higher in these cities than that of the larger one.

 

Nevertheless, with the increasing migration of people over time, cities get saturated which results for the reduction of employment opportunities. This situation leaves many persons unemployed; and because it is difficult for government to control population drift to urban centers, a situation of acute unemployment may arise. It becomes a challenge for the urban administration to either open up employment opportunities to absorb the population as state workers, or create an enabling environment for private or informal sector to engage them. Where young people remain unemployed over a long period of time, they may be tempted to earn a living by engaging in different levels of anti-social behaviors that may constitute another dimension of social problems government may find difficult to cope with. According to the annual report of the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency urban employment-unemployment survey of 2018, Dire Dawa has the highest urban unemployment rate (25.3%) which highly greater to the country average of 19.1 % during the same period.

 

This urban unemployment rate of the city has affected the urban governance and retards backwardly which affects the lives of the city. The urban governance which is the interaction of the different stakeholder including but not limited to state, private sectors and community can properly instructs properly to administrators. However, the unemployment level found in the city has created various challenges in the process of realizing the urban governance. All these notwithstanding, urban unemployment are a major challenge properly implementing urban governance some of which are highlighted below.

 

1.     Tension and conflicts:

As the resources of the city increase, several interests rise up to control the city and its resources. Often times, tension and conflict of interest lead to a struggle among the contending groups to control the basic areas of the city: lands, markets, shopping malls, industrial areas etc. Such conflicts usually arise among local government areas existing with the urban areas (such as kebeles), between local governments and the regional government and even between regional governments leading to boundary disputes. This is true in rural kebeles of Dire Dawa Administration. This poses a challenge on how best to reconcile these issues (urban governance) and broker peace among states and between state and local government. This scenerio is common in Dire Dawa city where the relationship between the administration and the federal government and local government areas has been soured because of conflict arising in controlling the existing resources.

 

2.     Problem in controlling the Hoodlums:

As explained, many youths become more attractive to migrate from rural or small cities to urban cities for seeking of job and other opportunities. However, this is not as such expected since a majority of migrates with low level of skills, education and experiences become unemployed and dependent to the society. This creates difficult situation for their life and pressure in contrast to their perception of engaging in a form of activity to earn a living. Therefore, when they cannot engage themselves in any meaningful economic activity, they tend to occupy themselves with one form of misbehavior action in order to survive. This mental set up can be perpetrated by either by already criminally minded or those frustrated by unemployment. The urban areas, find a conducive atmosphere for both groups as they are not easily identify. There is increase in crime rate, including in Dire Dawa City, caused by the activities of hoodlums who engage themselves with criminal acts like drug addiction, armed robbery, etc. As the same time, this same group constitutes instruments for political violence during the period of election. Most of these groups in Dire Dawa City are homeless, live in uncompleted buildings, water side slum areas, and etc. They are the security threats to all categories of urban dwellers and government finds it quite challenging to fish out these groups. Surprisingly, they are the major challenge for government here today and there tomorrow as well as, their number increases due to increasing of urban population.

 

The police usually destroyed many of those slums with the sole aim of dislodging these criminal, however, they found new settlements in bushes and uncompleted buildings around them.

 

3.      Develop anti-social behaviors:

As soon as a place becomes urban, it becomes a centre of attraction for many persons from the rural and small cities in search for employment. Due to this, innumerable number of people, especially school completed youths, migrates to the urban centres in search of employment. At the initial stage of urbanization, employment opportunities do exist from government, industries and the organised private sector including non formal sector. However, with the increasing incursion of people over time, cities get saturated and employment opportunities drastically reduce. This situation leaves many persons unemployed; and because it is difficult for government to control population drift to urban centres, a situation of acute unemployment may arise. It becomes a challenge for the urban administration to either open up employment opportunities to absorb the population as state workers or create an enabling environment for private/ informal sector to play their role. Where young people remain unemployed over a long period of time, they may be tempted to earn a living by engaging in different levels of anti-social behaviours such as human ritual, prostitution, kidnapping and other acts that may constitute another dimension of social problems government find difficult to tackle.

4.     Burden for the urban economy:

Urban unemployed in Dire Dawa City are often perceive urban areas as environment that can pursue their economic interest and enjoy the type of social live that pleases them. However, this self-acclaimed freedom contradicts government regulations or infringe on the rights of others. Most of them are strive to become the dependent to the nearby households or the society and may also become strait vender which indirectly depends on the help of the community/government for their hand-to-mouth life. Even if they tired off to engage in some economic activities they prefer the informal sector and engage themselves in any economic activity and adopt any live style that pleases them without minding its consequences on the environment. This is why this class of urban dwellers can establish their businesses anywhere, any time and any how without considering government regulation on establishing different categories of business. Consequently, street trading, road side hawking, environmental pollution due to careless waste disposal, have become common in urban areas. This scenario is quite disturbing to government as exerting adequate control over time proofs difficult and which also retard backwardly in implementing the urban good governance.

 

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:

Urban unemployment is a major problem in Dire Dawa Ci which affects the societal lives in many ways. This study used the CSA survey of employment- unemployment statistical report data (2018) as a secondary source. Based on the report of the 2018, Dire Dawa city has the highest unemployment rate in comparison of other urban areas of the country. The survey prevails that 64.2 percent of unemployed population are female while male unemployed accounts 35.8 percent. More than half (56.5 percent) of unemployed explained that lack of job opportunity is main reason for not found job followed by absence of work related with their profession and lack of vacancy advertisement. Majority of urban unemployed population want to work any available job which shares 53.2 percent. Surprisingly, 35 percent of unemployed prefer to be self-employed. However, lack of finance, lack of training and finance and lack of working place are major challenges not start their own business. Decreased household/ personal income, unable to cover household expense and fed up looking job are major challenges they faced due to joblessness. The study also focused on the challenges of this high rate urban unemployment on urban governance. Accordingly, the urban unemployment has challenges in many aspects including but not limited develops anti-social behaviors, tension and conflict, creation of Hoodlums in the city, etc. These factors have a direct effect on the implementation of urban governance in Dire Dawa City as it is a challenge for coordinating the various actors in the city (government, private sector and community). Thus, the administration should focus on labour intensive investments that can employ huge man-power at a time. Besides the government should create suitable working environments for those who want to establish their own business including provision of financial credit without any collateral, working place and enhancing the skill levels of available labor force to match it with the skill that the economy requires with the collaboration of nearby higher institutions. Moreover, the process of realizing urban good governance is not implemented without solving the persistent unemployment in Dire Dawa City; thus, the government should focus on creation job opportunities.

 

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