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Activity update - Week ending 27 October 2012
National Youth Development Trust
October 29, 2012

Youth Indaba

The National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) hosted a Youth Indaba as part of Bulawayo Agenda's Ideas festival 2012 under the theme: Reshaping The Future Through An Electric Youth Electorate. The Indaba focused on the role of youths in the constitution making process and elections. Amongst the issues discussed was an interrogation of the content of the draft constitution from a youth perspective. They youths highlighted that devolution of power presented opportunities for youths to effectively participate in governance related issues and therefore it was important for it to be upheld.

They also discussed the issue of citizenship saying it needed to be fully interrogated to ensure that it does not discriminate against the youths and called for a youth commission that would deal with such and other youth related issues. The quota system for women's representation was applauded by the young people, particularly young women who also agreed on the need for them to take advantage of such opportunities for better representation.

The Indaba also provided an opportunity for young people to receive feedback on the recently ended 2nd All Stakeholders' Constitutional Conference. The second session of the Youth Indaba examined youth participation in electoral processes in Zimbabwe, with specific reference to the electoral amendment act, youth voter trends, young women's participation in elections and best practice on voter mobilisation.

The young people expressed appreciation of the Electoral Amendment Act and said it had made significant changes which needed to be implemented in time if they were to contribute to free and fair elections. Amongst the plausible changes noted were stipulations that any citizen of Zimbabwe can now conduct voter education under the supervision of ZEC and that special mechanisms would be set up to ensure that acts of politically motivated violence are harnessed.

The creation of Liaison Officer, a special unit force and an electoral court that will look into human rights issues at a Provincial Level was also noted as significant progress. However, the young people emphasised that all these aspects of the Act could only be of benefit if well implemented. A case study of Zambia was used to assist young people in coming up with best practices for mobilizing youths to register as voters and be part of the electoral processes in Zimbabwe. The Youth indaba was aimed at providing young people with a platform for engagement and knowledge sharing on democratic principles, activating the energetic youth voice in the electoral discourse as well as sharing experiences on electoral related issues.

Democracy Fair Exhibition

The NYDT interacted with more than 300 young people from Bulawayo during a Democracy Fair Exhibition held as part of the Ideas Festival. The exhibition, held at the City Hall car park provided the organisation with an opportunity to share information with the youths on services that the organization's information centre offers, programmes that it carries out throughout Matabeleland, paying particular attention to the voter registration programme that is targeting first time voters. Through the exhibition, the NYDT managed to mobilise a number of young people to register as voters in time for the looming general election. The two day exhibition also awarded the organisation an opportunity to interact with other CSOs from different regions of the country and share information materials on the various projects other organisation are running.

BYC Elections

The NYDT conducted elections in three wards (Makokoba, Mzilikazi and Entumbane) last weekend for the Bulawayo Youth Council (BYC). The elections were held by way of a secret ballot hence giving young people a feel of the national general election. Hlanganani Dungeni, Hope Sendamai and Mbekezeli Hlabano were elected Youth Councillors for ward 7, 8 and 10 respectively. The organisation also took the opportunity to formulate new ward structures by way of voting as well. The youth councillors and the ward committees are expected to work together in planning and implementing community developmental initiatives in their respective wards. The BYC elections are set to continue in Luveve, Mpopoma, Pelandaba and Magwegwe this weekend.

Visit the National Youth Development Trust fact sheet

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