Africa-Press – Botswana. United Nations General Assembly’s resolution 54/120 of 1999 was meant to recognise and support youth’s efforts, hence declaration of August 12 as International Youth Day.
Officiating at the International Youth Day commemoration in Tsamaya on Saturday, Minister of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, Mr Tumiso Rakgare, said the day was a special one for the youth of Botswana.
He said young people were a special treasure that had potential to take Botswana forward.
The commemoration, Mr Rakgare said, was a platform for youth to express themselves on issues of human and national development such as education, climate change, agriculture, employment, conflict resolution, social justice and others.
“The planned activities to commemorate the day were also meant to afford young people an opportunity to advise development agencies on the challenges the youth face and relevant intervention that could be employed,” he said.
He said as youth under 35 years represented 60 per cent of the total population, so they should stop being dependent.
They should be innovative and stop being over reliant while there were government programmes such as Youth Development Fund (YDF), Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), added the minister. Mr Rakgare said youth were an essential component of building a climate-resilient and sustainable economy for the country, adding that green skills were the knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society.
He, however, noted that young people had shown potential and keen interest in ensuring a successful transition towards a greener world.
He said in their skills diversity, young people occupied strategic leadership and technical positions in green technological industries such as mining, agriculture, tourism, environment and energy.
On other issues, Mr Rakgare said a total of 500 youths from North East District and around Francistown were recently exposed to trainings and interactions that sought to promote care for the environment.
“The activities included green skills training for youth business entrepreneurs, a workshop to promote the recycling of waste into useful materials, a mini career booth interaction session between youth and green skills industries sector, an essay writing and debates for junior and secondary schools, cultural night to exchange ideas, knowledge and views on cultural practices of environmental care,” he said.
He said more youth in other areas such as Mabutsane, Kasane, Letlhakeng and Charleshill districts would be given the opportunity to play a role in the transition towards a greener world,.
He urged youth to be in the forefront to influence decision-making for a successful and sustainable green transition, adding that their green skills, technological knowledge, experience and innovation were key elements to inform formulation of climate change policies.
Mr Rakgare said as Botswana was seen as a champion of the climate mobility in Africa, it was imperative to give youth the space to be part of the decision-making processes.
For his part, Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe, said the theme was appropriate as it addressed the intentions of his ministry to find a way of addressing mindset change and protect the county’s indigenous knowledge.
He said there was need to turn the country into a knowledge-based economy, adding that this could be achieved by the ministry and teachers aligning the curricula to green technology and protecting indigenous knowledge.
He highlighted that patenting of indigenous medicinal plants such as sengaparile could be beneficial to the country.
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