By SEPKOLIN WALNE
THE National Youth Development Authority (NYDA), in partnership with The Voice Inc (TVI), hosted a multi-stakeholder meeting on mid-term review of the National Youth Policy 2020-2030 under the theme “Understanding the Youth Landscape”.
Speaking at the meeting, Youth, Religion and Development Minister Jason Peter said the review shows us where we have come and where we have succeeded.
“Today, we are not just looking at documents and frameworks, but we are looking at the lives and dreams of our nation’s young people.
“We have been committed to four key priorities: Education and employment; Health, sports and culture; Community and environment; and Governance and institutional development.
“Let us all now call for action for the government to sustain funding and policy support through the youth program,” Minister Peter said.
NYDA Director General Joe Itaki said the purpose of the policy review was because of the four issues to position the youth agenda on the four issues.
“We have alarming rates of school dropouts in the country.
“Statistics from the education department confirmed that 80 per cent of young people are pushed out of the school system, and most of them are disengaged in contributing to the development of the nation.
“Special attention should be given to this group by the government, especially training in trade and soft skills so that they can use them for meaningful gain and help in the development of the provinces and districts,” Mr Itaki said.