STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.S.S.DLAMINI
OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SADC MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE FOR MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
AT THE ROYAL SWAZI SUN, EZULWINI
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY 2013
Honourable Ministers and Senior Officials
SADC Executive Secretary
Regional Director of Commonwealth Youth Programme
Director – Youth Division of the African Union Commission
Executive Secretary of the Pan African Youth Union
May I first of all extend to every one of our visitors a very warm welcome to the Kingdom of Swaziland and to this important Conference.
All of us here are involved, deeply involved, in one of the most important segments of our respective societies – the youth. As we all are critically aware, the youth represent the future of those societies. They are the ones to whom is passed the baton in the relay of life. So much depends on them. They need, and deserve, special attention and particularly so in many of the countries facing the challenging times of slow economic growth, minimal rates of job creation and thus high levels of unemployment.
Yet the problems facing youth and, in turn, the problem that youth can present to the rest of society are, if anything, becoming more challenging. The changing social characteristics of our global society, brought to the dimensions of a global village thanks to present-day communications, has created new pressures on our youth. Confusion, frustration and disillusionment are common characteristics that emerge when a meaningful career and reasonable standard of living are not available. Let us be realistic, ladies and gentlemen, to leave school and be faced with unemployment, and no light at the end of the tunnel, is not an encouraging way to enter adulthood.
This is a SADC meeting of consultation. It originates from an African Union Commission (AUC) Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth Development. Ministers from each region elected regional representatives to constitute a Bureau of Ministers to advise the Commission and, subsequently, Heads of Government, on youth matters in Africa and beyond.
Before the sitting of the Bureau, Swaziland, being the elected regional representative, has needed to consult with the SADC membership on the real issues to take forward from the Region. Senior officials have, therefore, met over the past two days to develop a draft integrated position paper for our Region, to be presented at the AUC Bureau.
Let me say at the outset that the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland is fully committed to addressing the plight of our young people – a group of the population beset by the common challenges prevailing today, namely high unemployment, education and skills deficiencies, HIV and AIDS, drug and other substance abuse.
This is not a time for numbers and which country of the Region has a greater challenge than another. We all face these problems, not only in the Region but across the continent. The key to success is to pool the available resources – human and other – to address those challenges. And, furthermore, set targets for the achievement of tangible results, and monitor the outputs that emerge.
The collaborative effort from all sector organizations is of paramount importance and we are therefore delighted to have in our midst highly reputable organizations like the Regional Office of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Youth Division of the African Union Commission, as well as the Pan African Youth Union joining the SADC Secretariat in this Consultative Forum. This formidable body of representatives will assist Member Countries to consolidate the issues affecting our youth within SADC.
The essential ingredient in problem solving – commitment – is there. Evidence of that is the 49 out of 53 participating member states of the AUC having ratified the Convention of the African Youth Charter which was adopted by the African Heads of State in Banjul in 2006.
The Kingdom of Swaziland has ratified that Charter and is committed to youth development by creating a conducive environment for youth to participate in all national development programmes from HIV and AIDS initiatives to specific youth enterprise development programmes. As our five-yearly National Elections approach we take the opportunity to mention that our youth will be very much involved in those activities.
Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, ours is a Region that progresses in a spirit of Oneness and Togetherness. Your attendance at this Consultative Conference is further clear evidence of that and we trust that your review of the Draft Paper will give rise to fruitful and harmonious discussion and the finalization of a clear and articulate position.
We look forward now to the development of the regional position paper on issues affecting the youth in our Region for tabling at the Conference of the African Union Commission Bureau of Ministers, which will be held later this year.
And we wish you all a most enjoyable stay in the Kingdom of Swaziland.
It is now my honour, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, to declare this first SADC Ministers’ Consultative Meeting on Youth Empowerment and Employment officially opened.
Thank you.