By Teboho Serutla
The indifference with which issues affecting the youth are being handled, especially the implementation of the National Youth Development Policy, took centre stage when young people conferred with stakeholders in Maseru today.
The youth used the consultative discussions on youth development, convened by the Centre for Youth Development Services (C4YDS) to voice their frustration at the slow pace of youth development.
Youth development practitioner, Zwelithini Matsoso, said the National Youth Development Policy has been released, with all the details of how it is going to operate, but the youth who attended the meeting were adamant the slow pace of its implementation is holding them back.
The youth pointed out that both the ministry gender, youth, sports and recreation, and the youth must be held at the forefront of youth development.
Some of the issues that were identified as major contributing factors are ignorance and negligence on the part of the youth on the exact role they have to play.
One of the attendees, Tebello Tjapela, said effective information dissemination could help a large number of young people realize the importance of their involvement in youth development.
Entrepreneurship officer, Lintle Rabolinyane , noted that when budgets are drawn up every year the youth is always included, but ultimately those budgets only benefit older people.
“Although we did not manage to cover the whole country, we have been trying to build a youth entrepreneurship database in order to find out how the youth in urban and rural areas manage their lives.”
