PARLIAMENTARIANS YOUTH
Youth Parliamentarian representatives Miss Candace Ramnanan (left) and Mr Mason Nkabinde (right).
who take on things even in a public arena) and the last group are the risk takers; the visionaries, the people who see possibilities in the mist of impossibilities. These are the people who realize that they can turn their test of the past into testimonies of the future and these are the people sitting here in this hall.
Last year, I had a rare opportunity to be part of the CYP 2012 in London; this was a convergence of the risk takers. As we shared our experiences from our diverse countries, what was common was the issue around quality and access to education and youth unemployment which evidently is a scourge killing the fibre of all Commonwealth countries. These abnormalities lead to all sorts of devastating consequences such us poverty, disease and lack of development. Society has no choice but to hear the call of youth for their own development, because there can be no future without a youth capable of meeting the needs of their country’s development, We must build on this activist culture to cultivate a truly patriotic and dedicated youth whose commitment to the values and principles of the Commonwealth declaration as adopted in 2012. We came with a few proposals we wish
you could consider as you will be making legislation in your respective countries. Before we bring this proposal, in line with the theme of this conference, as the youth we have first and foremost availed ourselves to be part of the solution.
The theme “Effective Solutions for Commonwealth Developmental Challenges” speaks directly to challenges we appreciated and acknowledgements we made in our Youth Parliament.
We then said: “Acknowledging that we only have two years to the Millennium Development Goals target, many if not all of the Commonwealth countries remain slow in reaching these targets. However much more can be achieved if the youth can play a meaningful role. The MDGs aim among other things to eradicate poverty, hunger and achieve universal education but above all develop a global partnership for development. We urge Parliaments to use ICTs as a vehicle for consultation and development as many of the youth are actually conversant with ICT usage especially for public consultation.”
Education remains the most significant arena for youth
development and emancipation. Young people themselves have a significant role to play in addressing this anomaly. More importantly, education must ensure that our youth are able to further both their individual and collective development for their countries and the world. We said all Commonwealth countries must adopt legislation that will lead or deliver free universal education for all up to undergraduate level.
On that note, we need to emulate the policy developments in Namibia and Samoa with how far they have done with regards to meeting the MDGs on education.
On youth unemployment Noting that we as youth constitute a majority of the unemployed, our deliberations indicated that as young people we don’t need free rides, handouts or pity, but we need more opportunities through education, entrepreneurial space and participation in the main stream of the economy of our countries. Yourselves as legislators must process legislation that speaks directly to these abnormalities. We have identified apprenticeship as a site of struggle and we call for stronger collaborations between the
public and private sector to achieve this.
We also urge legislators to develop policies that speak to the quality of health services in building healthy nations.
I was nominated to speak here today to remind you that you must always bear in mind that being a leader is not about yourself but the people in whose honor you serve. In this case we speak of the people who use their democratic rights to vote you in and instil governments. So every time there is a session in Parliament, we urge you to always think of the privilege and confidence that we (ordinary people) have voluntarily given to your good selves. We wish further to indicate that in the next conference the CYP must be given full participating rights, so that we can make input in the commissions.
The Holy Bible advises us that we must not withhold what’s good from whom it is due, when it is well within our power to do so. Let’s all work together in building peace, development and prosperity for the Commonwealth and the world as a whole. Let’s not just have democracy, let’s build it and do it for our collective prosperity. Thank you.
The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four | 303
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124