United Nations (UN) representative to Namibia, Sen Peng, said the UN system in Namibia is committed to ensuring the views, ideas and concerns of young people are at the center of its decisions.
Peng made these remarks on Thursday while addressing a group of young people at the Dordabis settlement, where the commemoration of International Youth Day, under the theme; “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”.
He said the UN will help Namibian youth by harnessing local innovation, facilitate the co-creation of knowledge by youth to transform food systems and build back a greener, more equal and sustainable planet with young people in the lead with tangible actions.
“The youth should be at the forefront of developing youth-led climate change solutions, adopting sustainable consumption patterns, providing solutions for better agriculture and supporting sustainable value chains. The UN has long recognised that young people are a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic growth and technological innovation. Participation in decision-making is, therefore, a key priority area of the UN agenda on youth,” said Peng.
Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service, Agnes Tjongarero, who spoke at the same occasion, said it is no secret that the youth represent a rapidly growing segment of the population, thus the importance of strengthening enabling instruments cannot be overemphasised enough, so as to position the youth to play a meaningful role in various areas with agribusiness industry being one of such areas.
Therefore, Youth Day is an important platform to bring youth issues to the attention of not only the international community but also nationally to celebrate the potential of the youth as partners in today’s global society.
“Youth Day thus accord us the opportunity to celebrate young peoples’ voices, actions initiatives and recognize their engagement and contributions. As the Minister responsible for youth affairs, when perusing this program. I am indeed delighted to notice the number of young experts being engaged in their various fields of expertise,” said Tjongarero.
She added that the ministry has established youth agriculture projects in all the 14 regions of the country as a means to create opportunities for income generation for the youth, while also contributing to food security.
Source: Namibia press Agency
