youth focus
2006
2012
The African Youth Charter, which is aligned with the efforts of the African Union, serves as a strategic framework that gives direction to youth empowerment and development at continental, regional and national levels. Consistent with the South African Constitution, and in line with the socio-economic programmes being implemented or worked towards nationally, South Africa has ratified the Charter, which prioritises education, skills and competence development, employment and sustainable livelihoods, youth leadership and participation, health and welfare, peace and security, environmental protection, and cultural and moral values.
The National Development Plan (NDP) is based on the view that South Africa has an urbanising, youthful population, which presents an opportunity to increase employment and boost economic growth. It offers a long-term perspective for eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by 2030. The NDP has adopted a ‘youth lens’ in its proposals, which include: • Increasing the number of students who achieve above 50% in literacy and mathematics, improving learner retention rates to 90% and bolstering teacher training. • Strengthening and expanding the number of FET colleges to increase the participation rate by 25%. • Increasing the FET graduation rate to 75%. • Providing full funding assistance, which covers tuition, books, accommodation and a living allowance to financially disadvantaged students. • Expanding learnerships and making training vouchers directly available to job seekers. • Formalising a graduate recruitment scheme for the public service to attract highly skilled people. • Expanding the role of state-owned enterprises in training artisans and technical professionals.
Cabinet approves the first 2007/8 Industrial Policy Action Plan, which acknowledges the importance of prioritising youth in job creation and strengthening entrepreneurship.
2008 The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is established to address youth development issues at national, provincial and local government levels. NYDA plays a leading role in ensuring that all major stakeholders, including government, private sector and civil society, prioritise youth development. Individual or micro-level programmes provide direct services to youth in the form of information provision, career guidance services, mentorship, skills development and training, entrepreneurial development and support, health awareness programmes and involvement in sport.
2009 The African Union declares 2009 to 2018 a 'Decade of Youth Development' on the continent.
2010 South Africa’s New Growth Path is introduced, positioning education, skills development, enterprise development and Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment as the focus areas directly related to improving economic participation.
2011 The National Skills Accord and The Youth Employment Accord (2013), signed by business, government, labour, civil society and nongovernmental organisations, aim to improve youth capacitation and placement in jobs, and to make the economy sensitive to the employment needs of young people. The Integrated Youth Development Strategy for South Africa is an implementation framework that assists the National Youth Development Agency to rally all key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders towards the successful ”initiation, designing, co-ordination, evaluation and monitoring of all programmes aimed at integrating the youth into the economy and society in general’’.
2013 The Revised BBBEE Codes of Good Practice prioritise skills development and emphasise the training and education of unemployed young black persons. The Department of Trade and Industry’s Youth Enterprise Development Strategy responds to the New Growth Path call for the state to provide bold, imaginative and effective strategies to address youth unemployment, through the creation of millions of new jobs. Through this strategy, government intends to enhance youth entrepreneurship, accelerate the growth of youth-owned and -managed enterprises capable of contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, and increase youth self-employment and innovation.
2015 The National Youth Policy (NYP) focuses on redressing the inequities of the past and addressing the specific challenges and immediate needs of the country’s youth. The NYP is built on the belief that South Africa has the potential and capacity to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality over the next two decades. It seeks to create a socially and economically inclusive society in which people are active champions of their own development, and are supported by an effective government. For the goals of the NYP to be realised, government must partner with all sections of society, including the private sector.
sources
2007
Sources: Integrated Youth Development Strategy for South Africa, www.nyda.gov.za, National Youth Policy 2015–2020, National Development Plan 2030 Executive Summary, Youth Enterprise Development Strategy 2013–2023, The African Youth Charter (2006), The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015, Guide to the Implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth.
The Trialogue CSI handbook 2015
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