Often times when a group of young people meet up, the agenda is rarely to discuss how to move the nation forward.
The usual reasons for gathering usually range from drinking, having a barbecue or sometimes just for sport.
A rare grouping decided to meet up and chat the course of Zimbabwe inline with the African policy on agenda 2063. Running under the hashtag #Zim2063, the select group of young Zimbabweans so it possible to move the country forward towards the ultimate African 2063 dream.
Gathered by the Zimbabwe Youth Council, the group comprising of students, youth organisations and representatives of NGO’s met to discuss on how youths can be included in Zimbabwe’s policy making and implementation processes.
The group went through parliamentary processes which were facilitated by the Clerk of Parliament, Prince Daniel.
Daniel tried to demystify the assumptions that most youths have about the Parliament of Zimbabwe, particularly the view that the legislative board is inaccessible to the ordinary Zimbabwean.
“The Parliament of Zimbabwe is very accessible to every citizen of Zimbabwe. The citizens can attend parliamentary debates and other portfolio committee meetings provided they are dressed well,” said Daniel.
The parliamentary presentations by Daniel encouraged advocacy in most young people who were present as they later formulated strategies on how to advocate for youth involvement in national policies.
The group was divided into clusters which included health, education and youth empowerment which were meant to discuss how best to include youths in national policies under the given sectors.
Lungani Zwangobani Programs manager Zimbabwe Youth Council said that the major reason for the camp was to map a strategy of how Zimbabwe would make strides to include youths in policy making and policy implementation as they had the energy to drive the country towards agenda 2063.
He said, “The main reason for the camp was to come out with a strategy to involve many youths from different parts of the country in national policies. This group was carefully selected to advocate for the involvement of youths and we are confident that these are the right people.”
One of the participants, Emelda Vhiriri took time took time to give a background of the agenda 2063 setting.
She said, “It is up to the youths to be involved in policy issues in Africa. Most of the heads of state who gathered in Addis Ababa in 2016 will not be around in 2063 so it is up to the youth of today to make strides towards creating the Africa they want.”
The camp ended with the mapping of a viable strategy to power Zimbabwe forward towards agenda 2063 and the formation of #Zim2063 which will be affiliated to the Zimbabwe Youth Council.
