This study was an evaluation of the intervention programmes which were put in place by the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) and its cooperating partners to address youth unemployment with specific reference to educated youths. Such a study was viewed as critical because it informs policy on what needs to be done correctly or improved in future endeavours to avoid repeating the same mistakes given that educated youth unemployment continues to rise in Zimbabwe. The study took the form of a survey in which 955 unemployed educated youths selected from the country’s ten provinces using multi-stage sampling techniques were used as respondents. The study found out that the intervention programmes did not achieve the desired impact as judged by most of the respondents who were supposed to be beneficiaries. Most respondents indicated that they had never heard about the existence of most of the fifteen intervention programmes identified in this research. The study recommended transparency through marketing initiatives which targeted youths in their final years of full-time education. The study found out that the intervention programmes were not adequately funded and this caused the selection of beneficiaries difficult leading to lack of trust with most intended beneficiaries suspecting corruption. Given the magnitude of the unemployment problem among educated youths, it was also recommended that Government and its cooperating partners should adequately fund the intervention programmes so that they achieve the desired impact of reducing the educated youth unemployment debacle.
Keywords: Intervention Programmes, Unemployment, Youth Unemployment
