Pretoria - The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) has published a document that provides a perspective on the status of education and skills development, economic participation, social cohesion, health and wellbeing of youth in South Africa.
The manuscript is in preparation to publishing the Status of the Youth Report, which the NYDA, in terms of the NYDA Act, is required to present every three years to the President, who in turn presents it to Parliament.
The development of this manuscript is a phase in the process towards achieving the goal of developing the Status of Youth Report.
It is an important resource that provides up-to-date information on youth in the country, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said at the presentation in Pretoria.
He said South Africa's population was largely made up of young people; those who are below the age of 35 years constitute about 77.6 percent of the total population.
"This calls for policy making, national planning and national programme implementation to be informed by accurate, up-to-date and easily accessible information on young people in the country," said Chabane.
This, according to Chabane, also calls for the country to ask imperative questions such as where the country stands in terms of developmental issues and what role the youth can play.
The NYDA, which was formed in June 2009 following a merger of the National Youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund, will be celebrating three years of its existence.
Chabane, to whom the NYDA reports, said it had been a remarkable journey with both successes and challenges.
"We have had our fair share of challenges, which were not and still not insurmountable," he said, adding that they will present the draft of the Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) for South Africa as part of the commemoration this year.
The IYDS is a co-coordinating tool and a road map for all stakeholders in South Africa to integrate and mainstream youth development in their programmes.
Chabane said the country had chosen an integrated approach to youth development understanding that, for many reasons, young people are the pillars for meaningful development in South Africa.
"The strategy thus details strategic development programmes that will benefit youth and generally the South African economy. In doing so, the strategy proposes a number of interventions to address key issues of youth development such as employment, education and skills development, creation of a cohesive society and nation building, and building a healthy and productive cadreship of young people," explained Chabane.
The strategy is expected to be approved by Cabinet in April.
