Government has launched the National Youth Policy 2020-30 (NYP 2030), which is aimed at producing positive youth development outcomes for young people at local, provincial and national level. 
The policy comes after more than year-long consultations with various government departments, agencies and the young people who stand to benefit from it.
It proposes interventions for the development of youth and focuses on investing in the capabilities of the youth to transform the country's economy.
The launch of the policy is the first step in popularising and distributing it to all roleplayers, including government and its partners in business, civil society and young people.
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Maite Nkoane-Mashabane said the policy is ready for implementation.
She urged government, civil society and the private sector, who are expected to implement the policy, to constantly refer to the document for guidance on the programmes and projects the youth are expecting from the government.
“We are to translate what is contained in the policy document into tangible actions. The policy has promises that represent change the youth of South Africa have been yearning for, for years, to rid themselves from poverty, unemployment and inequality,” she said.
Minister Nkoane-Mashabane said the youth were severely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and action must be taken to help them secure a brighter future.
“Our role must be to ensure that a young girl moves out of the kitchen to be a decision maker in the board room; a young man stops wandering in the streets of a township and instead goes into gainful employment as a successful entrepreneur, and our youth with disabilities need to instil hope in their able-bodied counterparts,” she said.
The NYP 2030 has five priority areas:
- Quality education, skills and second chances.
- Economic transformation, entrepreneurship and job creation.
- Physical and mental health promotion.
- Social cohesion and nation building.
- Effective and responsive youth development machinery.
For more information on the NYP 2030 or to download the document, go to www.gov.za
Email
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp