The Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sports and recreation is currently putting final touches to the draft of the long-awaited National Youth Council Bill which provides for establishment of the national youth Council.

This has been disclosed by the Ministry's chief information officer, Mr. Bothata Tsikoane, who said the Bill is expected to be approved by Cabinet before being tabled before parliament.

Mr. Tsikoane said the Ministry is targeting to complete this process before the end of the current financial year, after which the Council will be put in place and become operational.

The Council, to be manned by the youth themselves, will operate like a parliament, designing programmes to address the needs of the youth, thus guaranteeing their involvement in the making of decisions that affect them.

It will be made up of 20 representatives of the youth, two (a male and a female) from each of the 10 districts, and an additional eight drawn from active youth organisations around the country. This, he said, will provide the missing communication link between government and the youth.

The Council's resolutions will be binding on government, and it will be charged with implementing recommendations contained in the Youth Policy, and looking into issues and challenges facing the youth, such as HIV/AIDS, unemployment, high levels of illiteracy and drug abuse.

The Ministry has previously acknowledged that the youth have an important role to play in politics, and for that matter, they should be educated on politics and democracy, although only they will decide on the kind of platform they need to make this possible once the Council is in place.

The Ministry's National Youth Policy does recognize the youth's non-involvement in decision-making, and observes that they are the most vulnerable group when it comes to the issues that pertain to politics and development.

The policy, which defines the youth as people aged between 15 and 35, is designed to be a guiding instrument defining a course of action by young people and adults to bring about changes in society.

Source: LENA 02/10/2007