Pretoria - The ball has been set in motion for the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pretoria, which kicks off on Monday.
The gathering, held at the Tshwane Events Centre, is billed as the largest youth festival in the world by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
The centre is already abuzz with local and international delegates in a platform set to provide space to deliberate on critical issues aimed at finding lasting solutions to many challenges facing young people across the world.
President Jacob Zuma is expected to speak at a ceremony to officially open the event at Lucas Moripe Stadium, while a line-up of artists is set to entertain the crowds.
Daily conference presentations will give delegates an opportunity to discus social, political and economic issues towards the development of young people.
These will include the right to employment, economic issues, environment and development; free and universal access to education, science, culture and information; democratic and human rights and the struggle for peace, sovereignty and solidarity against imperialism.
"As young people who are also the future, our survival depends upon overcoming these challenges towards a construction of a world where politics and the economy are oriented towards people as a whole and young people in particular," said NYDA Executive Chairperson Andile Lungisa.
Young people continue to be the most affected by inequality, poverty and underdevelopment.
Lungisa says they continue to be confronted with challenges of lack of access to education and skills development, and economic participation opportunities.
"Young people across the globe face a myriad of challenges that require our governments to respond with urgency. This gathering therefore becomes very important to both local and international youth to define their destiny through influencing government policies and making valuable inputs in the discussion that will ensue during the conference," said Lungisa.
The festival is organised every four years by the World Federation of Democratic Youth in one of its 153 member states.
The objective is to unite the youth of the world and mobilise them around the banner of promoting universal principles of peace, freedom and social transformation to create a world free of human rights abuses and creation of sustainable environments.
"It looks set to be 9 days of intense deliberations, but at the end of the day, we must reach a stage where, through our collective efforts, we are able to make a meaningful difference. Practical change must be seen in the lives of young people and we are taking that first step," added Lungisa.
The festival runs from 13 - 21 December.
