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Youth Agenda Trust launches ‘Our time is NOW’ campaign
Youth Agenda Trust
March 11, 2013

Youth Agenda Trust has launched a campaign that aims at encouraging youth to seize the moment of the elections, beginning with the constitutional referendum that is set for Saturday 16 March 2013 by overwhelmingly casting their ballot. YAT will encourage them to vote for the adoption of the draft constitution.

The campaign dubbed “Our time is NOW”, will reach out to youth from most corners of the country who will participate in the run-up to the referendum and ultimately general elections expected later this year. The YAT district leadership will popularize the campaign in their respective areas by reminding them of their obligation to choose a constitution and a leadership of their choice will coordinate the campaign.

The campaign will begin this week on the mobile (through the bulk sms system) and social networking platforms but will also make use of current YAT programmes and will also feed into the activities of other youth organizations across the country.

Our time is NOW, is a campaign whose conception is motivated by the lack of information by the youth about their electoral rights which is worrying given that the constitutional referendum is on 5days away. There is a general belief among the youth that the information blackout on the referendum is deliberate and designed to stifle the participation of the youth in the process.

Information gathered by YAT reveals that the youth have not received copies of the draft constitution including youth organizations and the voting procedures have not been communicated well to youth, both in urban and marginalised communities.

The sustained information blackout has continued to worry the youth who feel that this year they may be able to play a part in deciding their future and pluck themselves out of the abyss of poverty, unemployment, HIV and AIDS among other ills.

The youth also see this year’s elections as a platform to elect an accountable government that will be able to respect the sanctity of human life, respect human rights and democracy and promote good governance. Most youth are out of school or college because they cannot afford it, hence they expected the coming government to be able to provide them with decent education, and employment opportunities and must also be able to attract foreign direct investment into the country’s ailing industry.

Our time is now campaign is a timely reminder for the youth to take the initiative and prove critics wrong who always say they do not want to participate in the electoral processes.

Visit the Youth Agenda Trust fact sheet

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