Young people in SADC not united

Young people in SADC not united Youth minister Erastus Uutoni says although it was his impression that youth were committed to their own development, there was also a distinct lack of unity among young people in SADC.

Uutoni was speaking at the two-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) Youth Forum held recently at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek.

The National Youth Council (NYC), in conjunction with the SADC secretariat, hosted the forum.

“Our steps are very slow and this is the reason why we see some people coming from all the corners into our region,” Uutoni said.

“Innovation is key, let's move.”

City of Windhoek mayor Muesee Kazapua said the municipality has been active when it comes to youth matters, as they established a platform called the Junior Council in 2002, where high school learners work with the City and advocate when it comes to the needs of the youth.

“There is no way others can plan for us as young people we should plan for ourselves,” Kazapua said.

The purpose of the forum was to facilitate consultations and planning on youth development and empowerment in SADC region.

One of the objectives was to develop recommendations for youth action to operationalise the 2018 SADC summit theme, 'Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development'.

It also aimed to provide recommendations for the SADC conference of youth ministers to be held in 2019.

It also drew up regional youth empowerment priority areas to be recommended for consideration during the next meeting of the SADC ministers responsible for youth.

The forum also reviewed and drew up priority actions for youth participation and leadership, while developing a conceptual framework for youth innovation and entrepreneurship.

It also drew up a plan of action for youth participation in implementing the SADC Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) Framework for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and Youth.

More expected outputs were recommendations for a proposed regional mechanism for youth participation, leadership and action in terms of a regional programme on youth innovation and entrepreneurship.



Michelline Nawatises