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Statement on the commemoration of the International Day of Youth
Youth Agenda Trust
August 12, 2010

The Youth Agenda Trust joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Youth Day which came into being on the 17th of December 1999 as a result of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 54/120. The resolution endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers responsible for youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998). The 12th of August was therefore set aside as the International Day of Youth, an important day set aside to reflect on the challenges young people encounter in their daily lives. This year's commemorations also come in the backdrop of the commencement of the International Year of Youth (12 August 2010 to 11 August 2011) as per resolution A/RES/64/134 that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2009.

The Youth Agenda Trust finds the theme for this year "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding" relevant to the Zimbabwean youth as they have been involved in acts of aggression, intolerance and violence. These sad acts have been mainly fostered by the political culture that had been created by the ZANU PF regime over its thirty year grip to political power. ZANU PF has over the years repeatedly created and sustained structures of violence in which young people are at the centre stage. The creation of the notorious National Youth Training programme under the guise of youth development is one of the many clear cut examples of the previous regime's affinity to abuse young people of Zimbabwe. In this programme we saw youth militias being recruited, indoctrinated, militarised and unleashed into the communities to terrorise, rape and murder those believed to be possessing divergent political views from those of ZANU PF. These notorious youth militias played a crucial role in sustaining the ZANU PF hegemony despite its unpopularity with the Zimbabwean electorate.

The formation of the Inclusive government however has marked the beginning of a new political discourse in Zimbabwe. The Inclusive government despite it falling short from the glory of democracy has seen Zimbabweans moving away from the politics of patronage, violence and aggression to a new political system of tolerance and dialogue. It is in line with this transformation of the political landscape that the Youth Agenda Trust challenges the principals to the Global Political Agreement to relook at the role being played by the Organ on National Healing. The Organ has proven beyond the minds of all Zimbabweans that it lacks the capacity and political will to execute its mandate. To date the organ has only held a few conferences in splashy hotels far away from the downtrodden victims of political violence in the villages and marginalised communities. It comes as no surprise to the Trust that ZANU PF youth even went on to disrupt such meaningless indabas, a clear testimony of a failing reconciliation strategy which is disconnected from the actual target group, the youth. The Youth Agenda Trust also takes this opportunity to condemn in the strongest of terms the provocative, insulting and directionless pro Mugabe jingles that are being played at least twice every hour on the state's electronic media. We urge the responsible authorities to rather allocate such important airspace to progressive young people so as to dialogue and debate freely than to promote divisive jingles that are meant at propping up images of failed politicians.

In conclusion, the Youth Agenda Trust challenges the inclusive government to seriously take on board the needs of young people in its budgeting, policy formulation and implementation. Government programming should foster cohesion and unity amongst all young people regardless of their political alienations. The notorious national youth training programme must be banned and a proper audit of the role played by the youth militias must be instituted. The national youth policy must be revised and an all inclusive policy which is youth driven must be expeditiously adopted.

Visit the Youth Agenda Trust fact sheet

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