Laura Saarinen
3 June 2011
Windhoek — A three-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) youth preparatory meeting for the meeting of ministers responsible for youth and orphans and other vulnerable children started in Windhoek on Tuesday.
On Tuesday the main question was how to empower youth councils at national level and how best to achieve the establishment of a SADC wide platform of youth.
Dr Manasa Dzirikure said that there is a clear need to strengthen youth development platforms nationally and for a clear series of measures to be adopted in conformity with the African Youth Charter.
“It is important to know how they see what is happening today and how they want things to be in the future,” he said.
Mandela Kapere, the Executive Chairperson of Namibia National Youth Council, pointed out that in Southern African countries have seen some level of movement with respect to the creation of stronger youth formations at regional and continental levels.
As an example he mentioned the revitalisation strategy of the Pan African Youth Union (PYU), which was adopted by the African Union.
“We have a framework, we just need to ensure that youths are participating fully and these strategies and mechanisms are used,” Kapere said. According to Kapere, the most challenging question is how to increase cooperation between youth organisations and SADC.
“Youth councils have to be a platform that can improve regions and give information about problems and how to solve them. We want youth to help us to move on.”
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More Power for Youth Councils