Botswana- Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA-Botswana), launched the “Voice Africa’s Future” campaign to enable youth participation through the mobile platforms and the social media in the conceptualizing of the “Post 2015” development framework . The campaign was launched in Gaborone Tuesday 3rd, 2013.
The campaign which is led by African Monitor organization in collaboration with YALDA-Botswana, will facilitate consultation with the youths to create fresh ideas and encourage youth participation to formulate a successor development framework “Post 2015” ahead of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which will reach its life span in 2015. The youthful YALDA-Botswana Coordinator Patshimo Mosimanegape told Youth-Hub Africa in an interview that the Botswana youths have often been left out during the development projects decision making processes. Therefore, she believes “Voice Africa’s Future” campaign affords them an opportunity to share with the rest of the world the African dream and the changes they wish to see.
She said the participation of the African youth across the continent would help to harness creative and innovative ideas which will accelerate the development agenda of the “Post 2015” development framework. Mosimanegape further alluded that the launch in Botswana will see YALDA mobilizing about 15000 young people aged between 18 and 35 years to contribute positive ideas for the “Post 2015 framework. “YALDA together with other participating Youth NGOs will then compile these youth perspectives into a report which will be presented before the High Level Panel which has been appointed by the UN secretary general to oversee the development process of the post2015 framework,” she said.
Pressed further on how the campaign would benefit Batswana youths, Mosimanegape observed that Botswana lacks youth participation at the highest levels of decision making process. “We wonder how people come up with things that affect us and yet they do not have a clue about what concerns us, what we need or what we think,” Mosimanegape lamented. She reiterated that the anticipated “Post 2015” Development Framework will captivate youth participation and afford them an opportunity to interrogate both national and international youth projects and development policies in their respective African countries.
Moreover she underscored that it will allow Policymakers to integrate innovative ideas, recommendations and aspirations of the younger African generation for an inclusive “Post 2015” development framework. The campaign in Botswana which will last until September, will run concurrently with 10 other African countries including Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Zambia and Malawi, to name a few.
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Reporting by Youthhubafrica Botswana Correspondent, Eric Paulo
