2017-10-11Staff Report 2 Pinehas Nakaziko Windhoek-“It’s not about how young people contribute to democracy and social justice, but to look on what platforms are accessible for youth leaderships,” says Vistoh Sabisa, one of the delegates from Namibia participating in this year’s Southern Africa Regional Youth Forum (SARYF) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) Sabisa is one of 30 youth delegates from southern African countries. The forum is hosted under the theme, ‘Youth Participation Towards Social Justice’. Sabisa says platforms that need to be include policy-making within leadership and strategic institutions and it’s through these processes that youth can have an impact on issues affecting them and social justice concerns in particular. “We need to be critical to acknowledge that youth leadership will not come in those institution without smooth transition,” he says. Kundakwashe Chakabava, a youth delegate from Zimbabwe, says by contributing towards democracy and social justice, the creation of the political cohesion is the basis of social economic and political transformation. “I think it’s time we create a regional frontline of the youth in demand for social justice in the same manner that the liberation struggles united the region. You can’t talk of a progressive youth in Zimbabwe, or any part of the region when you leave the rest of the regions in poverty. “We must speak with one voice in order for us to corner our leaders,” says Chakabava. He adds that the forum was important for young people, because it brings people together as a family of southern Africa to discuss the future. The SARYF has been meeting yearly since 2012 on the initiative of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FFS). It offers youth development interventions on a national level in many countries across the globe, with a focus on enhancing leadership capacities amongst young leaders. The programme is run in Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Consequently graduates from these countries are granted the opportunity to further shape the fortunes of Africa. The main objective of the forum is to share ideas amongst African leaders and to discuss ways to contribute to democracy and social justice in Africa, as well to influence and provide a youth perspective to politics and policies in African countries and multilateral platforms. 2017-10-11Staff Report 2
