Patience Makwele
African young people are demanding a greater say in policies affecting their future, saying they should no longer be treated merely as beneficiaries of programmes designed to address their challenges.
Youth Sustainable Development Network (YSDN) co-founder and chief executive officer Damilola Hamid Balogun made the call as the eighth Youth Sustainable Development Conference got underway at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Windhoek on Wednesday.
Held under the theme “Powering Change”, the three-day conference has brought together young leaders, policymakers, innovators, investors and development partners to discuss sustainable development, climate action, energy, innovation and Africa’s future.
Balogun said one of the biggest gaps in youth-focused development is the limited involvement of young people in shaping the policies intended to address their challenges.
“Most times you find policymakers making policies for young people and, at the end of the day, it does not really align with what they represent,” he said.
He said governments and development institutions should move beyond creating opportunities for young people and instead involve them in deciding what those opportunities should look like.
“A lot of policies are not recognising young people as co-creators, but rather as mere beneficiaries,” Balogun said.
He challenged young people to examine their own role in major development initiatives, including Mission 300, the initiative aimed at connecting 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
Balogun said young people should not only see themselves as recipients of such initiatives, but also as entrepreneurs, job seekers, professionals and future policymakers who can contribute to their implementation.
“How do you see your role in this?” he asked.
Speaking to the Young Observer, 29-year-old attendee William Nande Shivute said that the distinction between being consulted and actually having influence is important.
“Sometimes we are invited into the room, but not necessarily into the decision-making,” Shivute said.
He said young people are often introduced to programmes after key decisions have already been made, despite being the people directly experiencing the challenges those programmes seek to address.
Shivute said policymakers can also lose sight of the people behind youth-related statistics.
“I think they sometimes see statistics before they see people,” he said, pointing to unemployment figures that can represent graduates struggling to find work or young entrepreneurs unable to secure funding.
He said young people need more than repeated programmes and workshops, calling for greater access to funding, opportunities and platforms where their ideas are taken seriously.
NUST student attendee Ileni Ndapandula Shoombe echoed the concern, saying youth participation should not become a box-ticking exercise.
“If you’re asking for our opinions, there should be a real possibility that those opinions will influence the final decision,” Shoombe said.
She said Namibia has opportunities for young people to participate, but access can sometimes depend on having the right connections, knowing where to look or already having experience.
“There are young people with really good ideas who don’t even know where to take them,” she said, arguing that opportunities should be accessible to ordinary young people and not only those who are already connected.
The conference is also designed to move beyond discussions, with participants expected to work on solutions and engage with opportunities linked to investment, internships and employment.
Balogun said YSDN’s approach is built around capacity building, influencing policy and supporting sustainable projects, with the aim of equipping young people to play a more active role in development.
Windhoek is hosting the conference for the first time in Southern Africa, with the gathering expected to conclude on today.
Shivute, however, stressed that responsibility does not rest entirely with policymakers.
“If we want to be taken seriously as co-creators, we also have to show up prepared,” he said.
“We need to educate ourselves about policies, understand the opportunities available and actually bring ideas to the table.”
Balogun similarly urged young people to move from being passive recipients to active participants in shaping Africa’s future.
“They are not just beneficiaries of what Africa represents. They are key creators and co-creators,” he said.
