​The creation of good jobs and decent work in conflict-affected places is widely seen to generate not just wealthier economies, but also safer societies and more legitimate states. However, a lot of policy thinking about job creation is dominated by technical approaches more concerned with balancing supply and demand than with serious analysis of the role of institutions, identity and power in mediating access to opportunities. 

Drawing on qualitative data this study seeks to generate evidence on how urban labour markets actually work through an investigation of young people’s participation in the catering sector of Lira – a large and expanding town in post-conflict northern Uganda.

Richard Mallett, Teddy Atim