When opportunities aren't enough for everyone
Hello Project HOPE friends, good day to everyone. I hope you're all doing well. I was reviewing some recent news and came across a fact that really got me thinking.
According to an OECD report,in March,Colombia ranked second among member countries with the highest unemployment rate, at 9.6%, only Spain is higher, at 10.9%, and that's despite the fact that Spain has experienced severe economic crises in recent years. I find this figure alarming, especially for a country like Colombia, which is still developing and needs to move forward, not backward.
One wonders how it is possible that so many young people, experienced adults, professionals, technicians, even people with small businesses, cannot find stability. Unemployment isn't just a number; it's people who can't pay the rent, who can't put food on the table, who are forced to drop out of school or migrate in search of better opportunities. It's a chain of social, family, mental health, and hopeless problems. And the saddest thing is that things don't seem to be getting better.
The irony is that there's talk of foreign investment, major infrastructure projects, and technological advances, but what good are they if ordinary people still lack opportunities? How will a country grow if its people can't work with dignity, if professionals become frustrated, if young people lose motivation? It's like building a beautiful building on crumbling ground.
And it's not about the State having to support everyone, because it's not about welfare, but about policies that truly incentivize job creation, that support SMEs, that train people for the jobs of the future. Because while we continue with this high unemployment, the consequences are felt at all levels: more poverty, more insecurity, more inequality.
Anyway, I wanted to leave this reflection here, because sometimes the numbers seem like just that, numbers, but behind that 9.6% there are millions of real stories. Greetings, take care of yourselves, and have a good weekend.
