June is officially ‘Youth Month’ in remembrance of the youth of 1976 who stood up against unequal education and the apartheid regime’s policy of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction, above their native mother tongue and third language English. In commemorating and celebrating ‘Youth Month’, the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa hosts its annual Youth Parliament on Thursday 21 June 2012.
Young people from all nine South African provinces will meet in the Youth Parliament to debate issues affecting young people, under the theme “Education and Learning to address youth unemployment, poverty and inequality”.
ETHICORE believes that young people, as a key component of broader South African society and representing the future aspirations and hopes of the nation, have an important role to play in realising Parliament’s law-making, oversight and public participation function and as a forum for public consideration of issues of national interest and concern.
Topics for debate will focus on:
• Education and learning – promoting access to quality education and skills to both in and out of school youth through second chance intervention for school drop outs and school to work programs, improving access to finance for further education and training.
• Economic freedom in our lifetime – providing support to business and social enterprises that create job placement, self-employment and income generating activities for youth.
• Eradicating youth unemployment – providing young people with meaningful and accredited skills that equip them with necessary skills required for the job market.
ETHICORE is honoured and humbled to have been allocated 4 seats in Youth Parliament 2012 by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. In addition to the participation of Muhammad Khalid Sayed (Senior Advisor: Governmental, Parliamentary and Political Affairs) and an ardent youth activist, ETHICORE has provided opportunities to three young South Africans with an active interest in the political-economy of youth affairs and development. They are:
1. Ms Rifquah Hendricks, a former ETHICORE parliamentary consultant and liaison, currently completing postgraduate studies in Environmental and Geographical Sciences and a fellow of the Emerging Leaders Program, at the University of Cape Town.
2. Mr. Ali Ahmed Sayed, a second year Political Studies and Sociology student at the University of Cape Town.
3. Ms Tasleema Allie, a third year law student at the University of Witwatersrand, young entrepreneur and former parliamentary staffer, researcher and speech writer to the Minority Front in Parliament.
Download the Youth Parliament 2012 program here: Program (Youth Parliament 2012)
Follow this link to the Youth Parliament page of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa: http://www.parliament.gov.za/live/content.php?Item_ID=2219