The cliché ‘the youth are leaders of tomorrow’ has been used to sideline young people from taking part in decision making processes that concern them and their society. This platitude overshadows young people’s innovativeness and enthusiasm to contribute towards the development of their society.
In line with this year’s theme for the International Youth Day; ‘Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a world for all ages’, YONECO has been conducting a series of youth leadership development sessions in Ntcheu district.
The sessions have also been extended to community gatekeepers with an aim of helping the society to embrace the fact that ‘the youth are leaders of today’ and rightful partners in development activities.
In one of the youth leadership development sessions, community leaders from the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kwataine in Ntcheu district avowed to recognize young people’s role and capabilities. The leaders acknowledged that there is a lot of untapped potential among young people.
“We have learnt a lot of lessons from this session. The youth are key in development and we need to meaningfully engage and entrust them with various leadership roles at various levels,” professed Village Head Nzeru.
So far, the sessions have reached the youth and a total of 65 community leaders of which 20 were males and 45 were females.
