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Aug 22nd, 2003 - 03:34:49 |
Kondwani
Its almost one year since Alexandria. YES Malawi network has this press statement regarding the opportuntities and the general situtaion across Malawi. This is fresh from a Regional Consultative meeting held in Johannesburg South Africa. We also salute Clyton, Hlanga and Luvuyo and the whole Youth Development Network for a good and focused workshop. Southern Africa can make it happen. Say YES now and join us to change the youth employment situation. Read YES 1 Year on documents.
Jul 23rd, 2003 - 09:59:58 |
Kondwani
YES-Malawi lobbies to join MASAF phase three. The Malawi Network has from July 14 opened discussion with the Malawi Social Action Fund to be included as a consulting partner in identification of MASAF Phase three programme. MASAF is an initiative by Government which aims at empowering rural communities in various development programmes. Since 1994 the World Bank has been disbursing funds to empower rural communities in two phases. The third phase is expected to be Luanched by the end of September 2003 and the World Bank ahs approved USD 60-million whose 27 million dollars is a grant. And accroding to official information at least K1.5 BILLION will be disbursed as a loans for small small scale business and YES wants to participate. Read more details in a letter the cordinator has sent to MASAF. It will posted here by July 31st.
Jul 23rd, 2003 - 09:48:27 |
Kondwani
Human Rights Youth Network launches a micro-credit initiative: The Network which ahs been sloley for youth rights advocay today has launched a mutli-million kwacha project that will see young people being empowered with grants of up to USD 3,000 on fields of their own interest. Details to be hosted on July 30 watch this page.
Jul 23rd, 2003 - 09:44:49 |
Kondwani
YES-STRATEGY IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
The Malawi National Assembly-Parliament is set to debate a private members motion lobbied and sponsored by the YES-Malawi team on Thursday 31st July 2003. The bill will be presented the youngest Parliamentarian member for Thyolo West Honourable Roy Commsy who himself is 24 years of age. A copy is as follows:
Private members motion on increasing
Youth participation in Social, Political, and Economic Development of Malawi as part of empowerment strategy to sustain socio-economic and political developments Malawi has made since 1994
Honourable Roy Commsy M.P. Thyolo South West-JULY 2003
That this House seriously considers creating a deliberate empowerment policy for the young people in Malawi who are a majority, to ensure sustenance and continuity and guarantee for future development of Malawi. Such deliberate policy should encompass the introduction of a Youth Act, to govern activities of the youth, including resources and programmes coming into the country, establishment of Junior Youth Assemblies, and creation of a National Youth Employment trust with focus on rural youth and deliberate empowerment of young females in all socio-economic spheres of our societies.
Our political parties should equally be pro-active in youth empowerment by having more young men and women during the next year’s general elections. These efforts can make impact on our day-to-day efforts if we introduce a deliberate policy or quota to have young people represented at all levels.
I know most of us, might be asking Why the youth. Before addressing the issue of youth empowerment and how it is critical to the socio-economic development of Malawi, allow me to create this picture of how poverty remains entrenched in our society. Why efforts in eradicating poverty, reducing HIV/Aids and its devastating effects including issues of early marriages, school drop out and drug and substance abuse.
Out of the World’s population of six billion, three billion of them live on less than two American dollars a day as poverty continues to grow. In many countries, especially in the developing world, half of those people are under the age of 24. In almost all countries, improvements in living standards have been minimal, and reflect no substantial change in the lives of the vast majority. And in more than 20 countries, mainly in the Sub Saharan Africa conditions re worsening considerably.
One of the major causes of poverty is insufficient opportunity for people to earn a living-the demand for employment exceeds the ability to supply. The employment markets are limited, and young people have less access to it than older experienced job seekers do.
This problem is well reflected in the State of the Nation address by President Bakili Muluzi and indeed the budget statement, that access to credit and empowerment of the majority to have means of generating income, is the fastest way to economic growth and indeed poverty reduction. But the youth must take a centre stage.
At present, the National Youth policy in Malawi defines the youth from the age of 14 to 30 with an extension of up to 35 years.
From 1964 up to the present, there has not been a census on rates of employment. As such there is no data as to how many young people are unemployed in Malawi or let alone actively participating in the socio-economic circles of Malawi.
I am aware, that only a very few young people have organized themselves as organizations in mainly peri-urban and urban centres, leaving a majority of our youth with practically no or limited opportunities to accessing credit or life rewarding activities.
The data:
At least 60 percent of the Malawi’s 11 million are people below the age of 30. And close to 60,000 young people leave secondary education, with only an average 15 % of the figure failing to pass their national examinations.
Close to one million children are enrolled through the free primary education each year, out of which only 300,000 are able to complete their basic eight years of primary education. With very few of them being young girls.
Only one third of those completing primary education are able to access secondary education, with less than ten percent of the Secondary school leavers are able to secure places in post-secondary education institutions.
This practically means that up to 500,000 young people, either drops out of school, fail their examinations but still enter the labour market annually. Employment opportunities are very nil for many of the graduates leaving education institutions.
To quote a global picture by the United Nations Population fund in its 1998 annual report on global youth unemployment, I quote:
“More than one billion jobs need to be created between now and 2010 to accommodate young workers enter the labour force and reduce unemployment. Over the next two decades, some less developed regions will see temporary “bulge” in the working age population relative to order and younger dependents. This ‘demographic bonus’ offers countries an opportunity to build human capital and spur long term development- if they invest in education, jobs and health services…”-unquote.
The State of World Population 1998, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
The present Governments key agenda of poverty reduction is entirely dependent on how many young people; beneficiaries of various empowerment strategies are able to gain sustainable and productive livelihoods within this decade. To quote John F Kennedy a former President of the United States: “The Future promise of a any nation can be directly measured by the present prospects of its youth”
This is a soul-searching statement.
What are we doing to limit the ever-increasing numbers of the youth after their education? How much skill does our education system provide? What opportunities are there for the young woman after school? Of the many thousands if not million young people in our villages and rural areas, what hope and future have we created for them to face the ever changing global culture including means of sustaining their own lives? How many young people depend on us and what is their future like? What will your child do after dropping out of school or finishing his or her basic education? Do we have enough opportunities for all the young people in our areas? What opportunities of credit do exist for our youth?
If we can be able to answer these questions then we are on the right track. The challenge of youth empowerment not only depends on our belief, but our ability to take action and responsibility in creating productive lives of our children and a foundation of poverty reduction for the future nation.
In September 2002, Our Minister responsible for Youth then Honourable Kaphwerea Banda and Honorable Mrs Alice Sumani then Minister of Labour and Vocational Training led a Malawi delegation to the first global summit on Youth Employmet named YES 2002. During the official opening session the First Lady of Egypt, Madame Suzanne Mubarak said during the official speech: quote:” Ignoring this problem is our own collective peril. The enormous energies of youth must be given the opportunity to be channeled to constructive and sustainability activity. IF denied, we faced the specter of hundreds of millions of half educated unemployed youths in the cities of the developing world … easy prey to social pathologies, a social and political time bomb waiting to explode the order and stability from which they have been excluded.” unquote.
Poverty, illiteracy, and health issues should feature very high in the development of long-term policies, adoption of technologies and investing in youth employment.
We can never develop if we exclude young people as Parliamentarians, professionals, members of parastatal boards and many other avenues that are available including local assemblies. This is a group of people that will sustain and implement vision 2020, absorb decentralization and indeed make our democracy continue from where our great Leader Dr. Bakili Muluzi has laid a solid foundation.
Nevertheless, this requires multi-sectoral approach and support from all our donors with limited conditionality as we put in place such a deliberate policy of empowering the youth of Malawi.
Just to remind donors that they too have capacity to change the problems young people are facing today: “five of the world’s richest men in the world their monies equal to the GDP of 48 of the World’s poorest nations while 15 of the world’s richest people have their resources more than the whole of the Sub-Saharan Africa.
It means one man in the United States, or United Kingdom or the Germany can invest in youth programmes in Malawi and change our poverty index.
I think I have made my case on why we should empower young men and women of this country. The question that might arise now is what can be done and who should do it.
The question of who should do it is the easiest one. Everyone of us. We can change our football trophies in our constituencies to be come small-scale credit funds that young people and women can access to develop their businesses. We need to set the pace and donors, banks and even Government will be convinced to change their policies in terms of micro-credits. Politically, we should support the candidature of young people in next years elections and to crown it all we should ensure that young women and rural youth feature very high in policies and decision making process, plans and implementation of any programmes that we wish to undertake.
The private sector has also that crucial role to play. We need a Junior Chamber of commerce and industry to look into investments that can be made for the young people.
On what can be done, I have a few areas that as a nation we can start with:
Establishment of Junior Assemblies:
These can be a good entry point and training ground for the youth to take up social, political and development programmes responsibilities in their areas. They are working well in Swaziland and Kenya jus to mention a few.
The Model junior councils provides for an effective structure to allow young people to participate both politically and socially in the development of a country. Young people are elected by their wards and sit parallel to the main assemblies and on voluntary basis. Elections are done in schools and no additional costs are available except that young people are able to debate issues affecting them and suggest solutions and identify their roles in solving the problems. I am sure, our democracy can have a very good training ground if this issue can be implemented.
Youth Act and Youth Empowerment Trust Fund
The National Youth Council, which this house approved in 1996, has no capacity to implement a national transformation programme for the youth. The reasons vary from lack of resources to effective leadership. However, I do not wish to dwell on the Council whose performance has remained on where-are-resources available than what do the youth require to change their lives. They have focused more on policy than practical activities. Government continues to subvent this institution, which I know many of the members of this House can never really tell what impact has it made in their constituencies, let alone my own Thyolo South West.
That is why I suggest enactment of a Youth Act, which will cover a revised national youth policy, establishment of a National Youth Trust-where all resources donors or Government wants to allocate to Youth programmes, should go into.
The Act will ensure formation of Youth Assemblies, prioritization of youth empowerment programmes by all Ministries and guarantee direct access of available resources by all young people in all areas across Malawi. Whether in town or rural areas.
The Trust fund can make sure that Government should be committed to at least provide a minimum of 5-percent of the budget to youth empowerment activities. Remember young people below the age of 30 are almost 60 percent of our population.
Finally, the act can address the issue of Political participation by the Young people. Young people have for long been told that they are Leaders of tomorrow-but according to some old wise saying tomorrow never comes. This is evidenced in political parties where some people become MP’s in 1964 and remain I office until they are booted out of the National Assembly. We need to change that.
The UDF has the largest number of young people in this house, and that should be well commended. In next years general elections the majority of voters will be young people, as such we need as political parties to appeal to these young people. The act can guarantee that.
Just as with the gender policy, which calls for a 30-pecent inclusion of women in all sectors, youth can make up at least 20-percent as a minimum. We need youth to start taking Leadership positions that can train them alongside with today’s experienced personnel to become effective and better leaders for our nation.
Lastly in addressing economic empowerment of the youth, I am suggesting the following areas, which some have already identified by Government as where we can generate more opportunities for the young people:
1. Cooperative set ups
Using the already existing structures such as Irrigation campaign and farmer schemes, small scale business trainings and linking up with various micro-credit institutions the we can sensitize young people to be in groups, use the Prince’s Business Initiative as a model campaign and start-a-business campaign with a financial package, training and equipment and a small support bureau to manage the financial services of the groups until they are strong enough to run on their own. Special priority in the first phase should go to the semi-literate and school leavers in rural areas and young females.
2. Agro-based and processing
These agro-processing and based cooperatives will be target specific areas. Resource mobilization can include factory equipment that will include growing of fruits through specific cooperatives such as Tangerines in Mwanza; the scheme will set up specialized factories managed by qualified young people such as graduates from the Polytechnic in cooperative shareholding to process the fruit.
The other sector will include irrigation farmers clubs that will be given treadle pumps and other forms of irrigation support services to produce varieties of crops according to the geographical demands of the area.
The programme can focus on maize growing, and high cash crops such as Tobacco, Tea, Coffee, Sugar Cane, Paprika and other emerging alternatives.
Processing centers can be set up to manage the crops, while the specialized committees can look into the final market opportunities for the processed products. The Business Support Bureaus mentioned under cooperative set up will finance the activities and pay the groups their profits and capital investment.
3. Entrepreneurship
For those young Entrepreneurs with skills already, a special allocation can be made available with those that have convincing business concepts. Up to 20,000 young people can be given direct business support such as equipment and capital to develop their concept. However, they should be subject of the Business Support Services.
Areas of focus include mining, poultry, briquette manufacturing, textile manufacturing, production sector and different cross-border trade in products manufactured within Malawi.
4. Tourism
Tourism is one of the major areas of potential in creating and supporting youth employment. We should find means of formalizing the groups such as Tour Guide’s into registered entities to create formal employment. The concept can extend to development of curio markets; tourist villages managed by young people and other support services currently being performed in disjointed manner.
Special area of exploration will be setting up of slave trade museums and information centers, early missionaries’ exploration and the political history centers in areas that are currently not fully exploited to be managed by young people. Malawi has its own Goree Island on Lake Malawi where tourist can visit on the history of the Slave Trade.
Tourism marketing is also one form employment, and special performances in attraction centers can be arranged under the programme as a form of employment.
Allow me to commend the Ministry of Tourism, which has already started training for Tour guides which is a step in the right direction and indeed formalizing the sector as an SME.
5. Skills development
New coordination forum for project targeting youth empowerment such as TEVETA, secondary development projects and other available skills training programmes, WE need to work to expand the programme to target the most needy young people and realize their maximum potential.
Special fast track training programmes can be arranged together with the experts that young people who have not been to school and those in rural areas, or disadvantaged groups can get access to the skills being provided formally.
6. Information and Communication Technology
This is a new technology order that Malawi cannot be left behind. We need to put a special emphasis on creating digital opportunities to support youth employment. From the simple loan of a mobile phone, to opening of Internet café in rural areas, provision of computer training in secondary schools to use of the solar run computers in rural cooperatives.
We need to provide a computer to each secondary school by the end of the decade campaign, provide direct computer training to at least 50,000 young people within the next 10 years, open up 100 community based Cyber Café as form of employment to cooperatives of 5 young people and provide at least 1,000 mobile phones as means of informal businesses in rural towns to young people.
7. Entertainment, Music and Fashion industry
This is one of the fastest growing industries in Malawi. Young with skills and others can be provided with opportunities and resources to support the programme.
Special skills training centers will be set up within the existing institutions to support growth of these skills as a new alternative to creating youth employment. Market is available within the region.
8. Fish processing
This is Malawi’s unexploited commodity. The greatest challenge will be to provide fishing equipment, processing and export market as means of creating youth employment. Looking at the water levels in Malawi fish farming will even be extended to dams and rivers across the country.
Through this concept, it is envisaged that at least extra 30,000 employment opportunities can be provided.
I therefore call for relevant stakeholders, all of us and indeed the Ministry responsible for Youth, Ministry responsible for women, responsible for Employment, Local Government, and indeed political parties to adopt this motion and translate it into a reality. We need to start recognizing one fact that the future of this nation depends on what we can offer to our children both in terms of skills and in terms of opportunities to create a self-sustaining life. A man without means of generating income has no confidence, he is delusional and remains a threat to social developments and can easily venture into criminal and anti-social activities. Is that a Malawi you want to leave for your children, the youth of today?
In conclusion, I wish to make a special mention to President Bakili Muluzi who at every rally continues to mention the need for youth to be given opportunities alongside with women. My motion is to encourage us to translate his words into practice.
I am equally compelled to thank the President for the establishment of the Bakili Muluzi Institute for Social Transformation, a vision that borders on putting Malawi at par with developed nations through human capital development and grassroots mobilization as the institutions concept document reads. This is again the first step in the right direction.
With these few suggestions, I wish to say quote a Chinese saying: a journey of a thousand miles begins with single step”- I therefore ask all of you here to support this motion as we start a journey towards empowerment of our youth. Mr. Speaker Sir- I beg to move.
Jul 14th, 2003 - 09:59:38 |
Kondwani
BLANTYRE-Support your business project has informed the Malawi YES Team of newventures and resource base for active young people. Due to the present chage process in coordination the YES process has been dormant. But we are sure to pick it up by the end of this month. Opprotunities for the youth look brighter
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