Youth group engages minister today
Youth Consultative Forum (YCF) will this evening engage Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Grace Chiumia to facilitate a dialogue for increased attention to youth-related programmes in the country.
YCF national coordinator Edward Chileka Banda said yesterday the engagement, organised jointly with Plan Malawi, will also bring together all members of Parliament (MPs) under the age of 40.
He said the young parliamentarians have been identified as strategic partners who can champion the implementation of the National Youth Policy, African Youth Charter and Malawi Youth Charter.
“We are calling the meeting a ‘Stakeholders Dinner’ to be held at Lilongwe Hotel. After the elections a lot of young lawmakers and councillors have been elected and we feel this is our opportunity to engage them and together reflect on how best the country could effectively use the social capital, which is the youth,” said Chileka Banda.
He said the youth have the numbers, skills and energy, as such, they can effectively contribute to the economic transformation of the country.
Chileka Banda also observed that most young parliamentarians do not have youth activism, hence they fail to effectively push for youth-related agenda in Parliament.
The national coordinator said besides the minister and youth parliamentarians, the Speaker of Parliament and his two deputies are also expected to grace the occasion.
Former Speaker Henry Chimunthu Banda and all political parties’ chief whips have also been invited.
