total elimination of poverty
20 February 2007
South African youth have adopted a national Youth Information Society and
Development (ISAD) programme to promote youth involvement in Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) in meeting developmental challenges. This
adoption will lead to the roll out of youth development initiatives on ICTs as
part of the National ISAD Plan on ISAD.
The Presidential National Commission (PNC) on ISAD and the National Youth
Commission convened young people nationwide, including representatives from
Provincial Youth Commissions and government departments, in Tshwane towards the
end of last week.
The following are the areas of intervention identified by young people as
articulated in the youth on ISAD partnership programme:
Social well-being, health and life skills
Delegates welcomed the comprehensive approach of developing young people in
terms of both physical well-being as well as being equipped with life skills in
becoming active contributors towards the knowledge economy. The application of
e-Health solutions will serve to address the acute shortage of health services
by reducing the challenges of time and distance.
Usage of radio in informing young people of the dangers of ICTs such as
pornography was highlighted. This information should use existing channels such
as call centres, youth advisory centres and Public Information Terminals and
Multi-Purpose Community Centres. It was also emphasised that information must
be in all official languages. Further, information must be presented
considering principles of universal design to youth ensure that youth with
disabilities and those physical challenged are also targeted.
Development of youth related content
The meeting identified the need for young people to use ICTs to become
developers of information and not only consumers. Young people need to be
skilled to collect and generate information relevant for their development and
to digitise this information. Such information will be based on the social,
economic, political, cultural and religious needs to reaffirm the national
identity of the country and young people.
It was noted that the existing structures such as the National Film and
Video Foundation, National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA)
and the Universal Services Agency (USA) should be engaged to develop projects
to be implemented by young people to achieve these intentions. Partnerships
will also be forged with relevant institutions to promote local hardware and
software development to contribute towards the economic competitiveness of the
country. An infrastructure strategy was also proposed to promote the
integration of needs of young people with disabilities.
Education, skills development and training
The meeting endorsed the application for e-Education solutions to connect
learners to other learners, teachers to professional support services and
providing platforms for learning. Youth involvement in e-Education will use ICT
to accelerate the attainment of the set national education goals.
The Departments of Science and Technology, Education and the private sector
were encouraged to facilitate measures to promote access to information, career
guidance, development and innovation. The private sector was also challenged to
discharge its social responsibility towards youth development in the field of
education and the creation of opportunities for young people in ICT. More
information on the benefits of youth involvement in the fields of Science,
Engineering and Technology should be provided to dispel some of the prevailing
myths on these areas of human development.
Economic participation and development of youth
The meeting noted the use of ICTs to identify a niche for youth development,
especially in ensuring that youth receive entrepreneurship training and on
establishing youth Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMME) co-operatives to
promote their economy activity, coupled with the need to ensure that young
people in any economic sector, such as agriculture, tourism etc, are aware of
the potential of ICTs in ensuring sustainability of initiatives and
livelihoods.
A call was also made for development funding institutions such as Umsobomvu
Youth Fund, Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency, National Empowerment Fund, Land
Bank, Independent Development Corporation, as well as Small Enterprise
Development Agency to plan programmes towards the promotion of youth
involvement in ICTs, and the use of ICTs to advance youth economic
emancipation.
Youth becoming active citizens
The meeting acknowledged the need to recognise youth as a critical source of
human resources which could be used to accelerate service delivery towards
poverty eradication, job creation, economic growth and redistribution, safety
and security, housing and the provision for basic services.
Community centres, libraries, clinics, schools, media, including community
media were identified as being vital in making information accessible to youth
to enable them to make informed inputs towards the development of their
communities. This will enable youth to reap the benefits of government
programmes, especially those which promote youth economic emancipation.
The PNC on ISAD committed to ensuring that as the National ISAD Plan
implements in all provinces, the youth ISAD programmes will be taken to
provinces as a targeted intervention for provinces to consider in their
Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS).
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
The meeting highlighted the need for young people across the continent to
share experiences and lessons learnt in developing e-pioneers across the
continent, such as the use of the ICTs in the form of the youth ICT portal,
which is a virtual space to facilitate the networking of young people on the
continent. This would contribute towards the eradication of poverty,
unemployment, and in a constant quest to empower youth, women and children. The
youth ICT portal would also facilitate discussion between e-pioneers on
critical discourse such as the need to bridge the digital divide between Africa
and the developed world.
Comments:
Monde Mkalipi
National Youth Commission
Cell: 082 575 3976
Mokwining Nhlapo
Presidential National Commission
Cell: 082 554 9106
Enquiries:
Meshack Sempe
Communications Directorate
National Youth Commission
Tel: (012) 309 7866
Fax: (012) 324 4756
Fax: 086 692 2961
Cell: 076 707 4598
E-mail: sempem@nyc.gov.za
Issued by: National Youth Commission and Presidential National Commission on
Information Society and Development
20 February 2007
