Ekurhuleni - President Jacob Zuma has officially launched the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) which aims to advance the economic development of young people.
Launching the agency on Tuesday during the Youth Day celebrations in Ekurhuleni, President Zuma said the agency has a lot of work to do.
"It must initiate, design, co-ordinate, evaluate and monitor all programmes aimed at integrating the youth into the economy and society in general," he said, adding that it also has to develop an Integrated Youth Development Plan and Strategy without delay.
The agency is a result of a merger between Umsobomvu and the Youth Commission.
Part of its functions are to facilitate the roll-out of youth economic participation, undertake policy, research and development, provide advisory and information services and promote access to funding.
Working together, the efforts of young people will be directed at poverty alleviation, rural development and crime prevention, said the President, adding that plans are underway to recruit and deploy thousands of unemployed youths to the fight against crime in communities.
"We expect the Agency to initiate programmes directed at poverty alleviation, urban and rural development and the combating of crime, substance abuse and social decay amongst youth.
"This means that the Agency will work with various government departments that work in these areas, to improve the quality of life of our young people," President Zuma told the thousand of people mostly youth, who were dressed in school uniforms to mark the day.
The agency is also mandated to embark on initiatives that seek to advance the economic development of youth people implement the Integrated Youth Development Plan and Strategy for the country which will serve as a guiding instrument in advancing youth development at all levels.
Meanwhile, the Agency has appealed to government to make more funds available for the economic development of youth.
Further, the creation of an environment which supports learning, skills development, and economic participation of the youth will be one of the primary tasks of the Agency, said the President.
This as government has prioritised education over the next five years. For this reason, President Zuma said they have taken a position that all youth must have access to education up to tertiary level.
"We urge the Agency to assist government in promoting all young people stay in school until they finish matric.
"We also expect the Agency to assist in promoting youth participation in democratic processes, community and civic decision-making and development at all levels," said Mr Zuma.
Speaking to BuaNews, the Agency's Chief Executive Officer, Malose Kekana said the reason for the reason why it was merged was because they wanted to have a holistic approach to youth development.
The agency is aimed at "creating and promoting co-ordination in youth development matters."
He said one of the constraints before the merger was the failure to impact on young people's lives due to the lack of resources.
"Our budget then was very small in light of the challenges that we were facing. Secondly, if you've got that (a bigger budget) you can implement more programmes and employ more people to do the work," he said.
President Zuma also reaffirmed that government has heard the voice of youth in distress.
"We are aware of unemployed youth, those in conflict with the law; those living in abject poverty and many who seek assistance in various ways in our townships and rural villages," the President said, adding that government will enable them to achieve their true potential in life.
"As government, we have a responsibility to create an environment where our young people can extricate themselves from poverty and build successful lives," he said.
