The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
CABINET has approved the re-establishment of the National Youth Service, with the programme earmarked to play a key role of nurturing young Zimbabweans into resilient citizens with a clear sense of national identity and respect for national values.
Presented to cabinet by Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry, the proposal came about as a result of consultations between her ministry and the Ministry of Defence and War Veteran’s Affairs. Speaking at a post Cabinet meeting briefing yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the programme was a key strategy for youth empowerment in national, regional, continental and international development guiding frameworks to which Zimbabwe is a member. The frameworks include the Sadc Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan; the African Youth Charter of 2006; the World Programme of Action on Youth; and the United Nations Youth Strategy 2030.
“The programme is designed to equip youths, who comprise persons between the ages of 18 and 35 years with patriotism, discipline, volunteerism, survival skills, hard work, loyalty, tolerance, resilience, determination and honesty. During training the youths will be encouraged to participate in development projects and disaster response activities and thereby assist in enhancing national capacity to manage disasters,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said under the revamped programme, Vocational Training Centres across all the provinces will focus on Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Skills Training.
“This will encompass enterprise awareness, opportunity identification, project financing, and basic farming. The Civil Protection Unit will place emphasis on disaster mitigation and management skills. The roll-out of the National Youth Service Programme will involve community attachment of youths for work experience and service to various Government departments and local authorities. Graduates of the programme will qualify for further training, assistance in starting businesses, and for enrolment for careers in the police, the army, the airforce, nursing and teaching, among others. The programme will also take on board the disabled, and maintain gender balance and fair regional representation, with recruitment taking place through District Offices,” she said.
