Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, is expected to host a consultation webinar focusing on key legislative and policy instruments for the youth sector.
These are the National Youth Policy (NYP) 2030 and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Amendment Bill.
The youth policy seeks to guide stakeholders in the design of youth interventions geared towards responding to the needs of young people.
On one hand, the policy further outlines interventions to enable the optimal development of young people, both as individuals and as members of South African society, enhancing their capabilities to transform the economy and the country.
On the other hand, the NYDA Act is the founding legislation of the National Youth Development Agency. Its amendment will further strengthen the agency’s delivery of programmes, and help enhance governance, visibility and reach of the agency.
Friday’s webinar is part of an extensive consultation campaign that has been active since November 2019, with the objective of ensuring that the policy is as representative and comprehensive as possible.
The National Youth Policy has been consulted with young people, youth-serving and youth-led organisations, government departments, government clusters, business and civil society organisations.
The objective of the webinar is to gather further inputs from youth formations and student organisations in order to enrich the draft legislation and the youth policy document before finalisation.
Among other things, the discussion will reflect on the current challenges facing the youth, as well as creative and innovative solutions to address the identified challenges, working with government and all other non-State actors.
Government recognises that the NYP is not only a government policy, but the State’s commitment to youth development in South Africa.
The National Youth Policy can be found at www.women.gov.za. – SAnews.gov.za
