Pretoria – South Africans should actively join in the rest of the global community in celebrating International Youth Day.
12 August has been declared International Youth Day by the United Nations General Assembly. The theme of the 2016 International Youth Day is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production”.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Buti Manamela, on Friday encouraged young people to observe and celebrate the day.
“The 2016 youth day is about achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production.
“South Africa has long heeded the call by the United Nations and the Commonwealth Youth Programme for its member nations to develop National Youth Policies. The policies would serve as seminal instruments to guide member states' responses to youth development and to meet the needs and aspirations of young people,” said the Presidency.
The Presidency said South Africa’s National Youth Policy 2015 - 2020 (NYP 2020) is admired for its consultation process with young people, making it a youth-owned policy. The NYP 2020 further identified key youth development priorities and interventions needed to address these priorities.
Deputy Minister Manamela underscored the important role that young people must play towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensuring that the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a youth driven agenda.
“Young people bring energy, passion and innovation to development problems that have long plagued our societies. We must draw upon their strength and enthusiasm as they model sustainable consumption and production practices,” said Deputy Minister Manamela Manamela.
The NYP 2020 recognises the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality and its pervasive impact on youth.
“Youth entrepreneurship is being stimulated through the NYDA’s grant programme and the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) and Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) continues to support young entrepreneurs through the R2.7 billion Youth Entrepreneurship Fund.
“Job placements are being intensified through public sector internships as well as civil society programmes such as Harambee. Public employment interventions, through the Expanded Public Works Programme and Community Works Programme, continue to recruit youth and provides a safety net for income realisation and enhanced youth employability,” said the Presidency.
The Presidency said government is increasing the number of artisans trained through the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system with National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) providing more financial aid to needy students than ever before.
“As government, we are working tirelessly for the development of young people but more needs to be done. We will intensify our efforts and scale up programmes that have demonstrated impact to create more opportunities for our young women and men,” said Deputy Minister Manamela. - SAnews.gov.za
