National Youth Policy and Advocacy
The Zambian Youth Policy does exist as a document only but lacks implementation on the part of our Government,the following is an extract from the Zambian Youth Policy on Entrepreneurship development:
Youth Entrepreneurship Development is aimed at promoting sustainable livelihood among youth in order to reduce poverty,and enhance living standards.
My comment:The Youth Council is a toothless organ,that cannot speak for the youths of Zambia,even when the Youths have been called to various meetings to discuss ways and means they can work with government to reduce poverty among the Youth,nothing seems to be working for the youths of Zambia,unemployment and poverty levels are still very high.
The Youth Policy also states that entrepreneurship is recognized as an integral component of development,entrepreneurship development therefore can be attained through enterprise training,micro financing,provision of market outlets and advisory services as well as research.
My comment:Not until now when we are going for elections that government decided to move the Youth empowerment funds from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission to the Ministry responsible for the Youths,only a fraction of the youths managed to access the funds when they were administered under the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) due to unfavorable conditions that the Youths could not meet.
Samuel,Zambia.
Thanks Samuel, I see an opportunity for advocacy here - to enhance young people's access to the fund
I think the National Youth Development Council for Zambia is doing a lot of good work in pushing for the issues of youth in Zambia. I agree that it was once upon a time a toothless entity, that was when it was still operating under the old act of parliament, but after efforts to amend it, it has now become more active.Although the fact that it is still under government authority, I dont see it being proactive on most issues. It is also hard for it to implement decisions because they have to pass through the government structures which can sometimes be tedious.
