Africa-Press – Mauritius. The National Youth Council (NYC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, donated, this morning, in Port-Louis, school materials to some 12 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
These materials will be distributed to around 3,000 needy children from the vulnerable segment of the society in 12 different regions across the island.
A symbolic handing-over ceremony was thus held at the seat of the Ministry in the presence of the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, Mr Jean Christophe Stephan Toussaint.
In his address, the Minister lauded this endeavour which has as objective to help the vulnerable and deprived children to avail of school materials. It is in line with the philosophy of Government in giving equal opportunity to every child to have access to education, he indicated.
Education remains a requisite for every child and is the backbone towards achieving success in an individual’s life, he added. For her part, the Chairperson of the NYC, Ms Diksha Ramdonee, encouraged the NGOs to collaborate with the NYC so as to craft more programmes for the betterment of the youth.
Moreover, she emphasised that the distribution of school materials aims at providing support and empower those vulnerable children so that they can integrate mainstream society.
As for the representatives of the NGOs, they highlighted that many such collaborative initiatives between their organisations, the NYC and the Ministry to further youth empowerment, are in the pipeline. The aim, they underscored, is to come forward with more programmes geared towards helping the vulnerable children of the society.
The National Youth Council which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation has been established under the NYC Act 1998 to serve as a bridge between the Government and the youth.
It grants affiliation to National Youth Organisations and also acts as an advisory board to the Minister on the development and implementation of programmes to integrate youth in all sectors of national development.
