Nedlac initiative will lead to establishment of new national youth body

Wednesday, April 23, 1997

Nedlac at the weekend (Saturday, April 19) convened an exceptionally well-attended meeting of 26 youth organisations to discuss the formation of a new national youth council. The meeting resulted in a declaration by the delegates to work towards the establishment of a 'representative, autonomous structure of youth in civil society' which will focus on the empowerment and development of South Africa's youth.

A 12-member technical committee was established to consider submissions by all 26 organisations on a name and interim constitution for the youth council. These submissions will be used to develop a proposal in this regard within the next six weeks, after whichthe council will be formally constituted.

Nedlac executive director Jayendra Naidoo, who chaired the meeting, remarked that" this move by civil society youth organisations will place issues affecting the youth on the national agenda". He added that the new body "will immediately be welcome to participate in Nedlac as part of the community constituency".

South Africa's youth, who make up about 52% of the country's population, face several problems: unemployment, low education levels and severe social problems, such as teenage parenthood, substance abuse, delinquency, etc. These problems are not only those of aparticular interest group, but will also have a fundamental impact on the development ofthe country.

The launch of the National Youth Commission, a statutory body which coordinates government programmes and policies aimed at the youth and acts as a link between government and the youth sector, has increased the need for the establishment of a body to coordinate the youth sector. The absence until now of such a body has resulted in theseats allocated to the youth sector on, for example, the NGO Coalition, the National Training Board and Nedlac, still being vacant. And one of the difficulties experienced by the National Youth Commission in consulting youth organisations has been caused by thisabsence of a coordinated voice for the youth in South Africa.

It was in this context that the IFP Youth Brigade, the NP Youth Action and the ANC Youth League originally approached Nedlac to facilitate a first meeting and for assistance with bringing together as many youth organisations as possible to explore the establishment of a national youth council.