13 Aug 2019

Young people have been commended for contributing to the country’s development.

Speaking at the International Youth Day (IYD) in Selebi Phikwe on August 12, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Kgopotso Ramoroka, said the day was meant to recognise the impact of young people in development.

Mr Ramoroka said Selebi Phikwe was already at the fore front in recognising the importance of education, adding that schools were also doing exceptionally well.

That, he said, was indication of a good working relationship between parents, teachers and students.

He said Selebi Phikwe was an example to other areas and educational facilities in the town were of good standard.

The youth day was declared in 1999 by the United Nations general assembly through resolution 54, which recommended that activities be organised to support the day as a way to promote better awareness of the world programme of action for the youth.

Kungo Farms Group founder, Ms Beauty Manake, said it was imperative to ensure equal access for all young men and women to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, hence the day’s objective to emphasise the need to substantially increase the number of youth with relevant skills.

She also said the commemoration was also in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals which endeavoured to examine how government, through its empowerment programmes, youth organisations and other stakeholders were transforming education to ensure that it complemented the drive to realise youth economic and social empowerment.

Ms Manake further said the UNESCO Strategy on Youth provided a framework for a positive partnership to be established with youth organisations.

The strategy, she said, was built on the principle that the youth were strategic partners and actors for development, the same notion, she said, was shared by government and the reason why Botswana National Youth Council was established.

“I am encouraged by increasing participation of our youth in different endeavours as a way of affirming that our message of youth engagement is gaining momentum for the betterment of our country,” she said.

Selebi Phikwe Town Council mayor, Mr Molosiwa Molosiwa said education was the foundation of any modern society and “we can never hope to achieve sustainable development without education.”

He said investment into human development can reduce poverty and enhance the economic wellbeing of a nation. BOPA