Friday 15 August 2014

FSN celebrates International Youth Day

As the world commemorates International Youth Day, Female Students Network (FSN) cherishes the strides made to ensure that young people of today become active participants of their destiny on the political, social and economic spheres of their communities.

Youths are the future leaders of tomorrow, but it’s sad however to note that their voices often go unheard.
For our country to move forward to a brighter future, youth voices need to be amplified, their concerns heard because they are the ones holding the country’s future.

Hearing out what the youths are saying is essential for designing specific interventions that address their unique vulnerabilities and enable them to realize their hopes and aspirations. Therefore there is need to create platforms where youth can participate and share knowledge and ideas on how they can be active citizens who can able to contribute effectively to their personal development and that of the country.

There is also need to increase the capacity of young women in decision making positions, starting from within families going up to national level so as to reinforce gender equality.

Most young people, particularly the most vulnerable, lack knowledge of how to participate in relevant networks. As we celebrate this day however, there is need to look at the challenges that the young people of today are still facing, unemployment being the major one so that they can be rectified.

The failure by governments across the globe, including Zimbabwe to guarantee the eradication of all challenges that result in young women not being afforded the same opportunities as young men dropping out of school is against human freedoms and we condemn such in the strongest sense.
 
FSN therefore urges the government and development partners to effectively engage young people in developing national planning strategies and policies so that they can be given an opportunity to actively participate in all national processes.

An increased commitment among young people, youth-led organizations and greater political will of decision makers at all levels are needed for meaningful youth participation in development policy planning.

Promoting awareness among young people and enabling their full engagement in mitigation centred initiatives can facilitate their experience and enable them to so assume ownership of their contribution to development.