Nepal‘sโ Gen Z Uprisingโ Signals a Global Trend: Youth Bulgesโ and Political Instability
Kathmandu, Nepal – Recent protests โคled by Gen Z in Nepal, culminatingโฃ in a swiftโข political shift, underscoreโข a growing global risk: the potent โcombination of a large youth population facingโ economic hardship and limited political inclusion. A surge in demonstrations, fueled by high unemployment and frustration โขwith theโ status quo, highlights how a “youth bulge” can act as a catalyst for unrest, echoing similar events across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Nepal currently faces a youth unemployment rate of 22.7% for โthose aged 15-24,a figure that,whileโ projectedโ to fall to around 10.7% in 2024 and between 10-12% inโค 2025,โข remains a critical challenge.โ This demographic pressure, coupled โขwith โconcerns โover corruption and rising living costs, has created a volatile habitat.
Past precedents โdemonstrate the destabilizing โฃpotential of โฃthis dynamic. Theโข Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen were largely driven by young people grappling with unemployment โฃand aโ lack of prospect, with over halfโค the population in these nations under the age of 25 at the time. Similarly, youth-ledโฃ protests erupted across Sub-Saharan Africa in โค2024, including in Nigeria, kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Mozambique,โข driven by angerโ over economic conditions.โค Aโ recent example is the violent โฃstudent riotsโข in Bangladesh in August 2024, โwhich โคled to the overthrowโ of the Hasina Regime.
However, population size alone isn’t the determining factor.These episodes demonstrate that unrest โขis most likely toโ occur when a โyouth bulge coincides with economic strain, unemployment, โฃand โคa lack of political inclusion. โThe youth population acts as a powerful accelerant, substantially increasing the likelihood of protest when other stressors are present.
Looking ahead, Nepal stands at a crossroads.โ The country’s policymakers have an opportunity to harness the energy of its youngโ population โthrough reforms focused on job โฃcreation, tackling corruption, and strengthening democratic institutions. โฃ Failure to do so, the analysis warns, โขrisks repeating the pattern seen elsewhere, turning a potential asset โinto a source of instability.
Asโ the authorโ concludes, theโ lessons โof โNepal’s gen Zโ revolutionโ – and its repercussions – will resonate โgloballyโข for years to come, โคserving as a starkโ reminder that โฃignoring the needs and aspirations โฃof youth is a gamble with a nation’s future.
(Source: UNFPA – 12thโฃ National Population and Housing Census โ2021)
