BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
NHLANGANO – A total of 489 youth leaders across all 59 Tinkhundla are set to play a bigger role in ensuring that the voices, challenges and opportunities of young people reach decision-makers.
The Eswatini National Youth Council (ENYC) has launched the Tinkhundla Youth Committees Regional Capacity-Building Training Programme in the Shiselweni Region, marking the start of a nationwide rollout to strengthen youth representation at grassroots level.
The programme aims to equip Tinkhundla Youth Committee members with skills to identify challenges facing young people, mobilise communities, connect youth to opportunities and communicate grassroots concerns to regional and national structures.
Representing the Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani Nzima, Mzwandile Mthethwa said the programme was more than a training exercise. “This is more than training,” he said.
The initiative is an investment in strengthening the structures through which young people participate in national development. Youth development had to begin in communities, where young people experienced the challenges affecting their daily lives. The National Youth Development Coordination Framework recognised that youth development could not be the responsibility of one institution.
Government, development partners, civil society, the private sector, youth-led organisations and young people themselves all had a role to play in creating meaningful opportunities for the country’s youth.
Mthethwa described Tinkhundla Youth Committees as an important link between communities and the wider youth development system. Across the 59 Tinkhundla, committee members are expected to listen to young people, identify their priorities and challenges, mobilise participation and ensure that community concerns are communicated through the appropriate structures.
“They are the eyes and ears of the youth development system at community level,” he said. He also challenged the youth leaders to take their responsibilities seriously, urging them to “report accurately, listen carefully and represent responsibly”.
The training focuses on five key areas which are, governance and leadership, safeguarding, community mobilisation, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation. These areas are aimed at helping committees understand their mandates, uphold ethical standards, engage communities effectively and provide reliable information that can strengthen youth programmes.
Through this exposure, committee members are expected to become a stronger link between young people and opportunities in skills development, networks, entrepreneurship and other support programmes.
While youth committees should ensure young people know about available opportunities, they must also report back on what is working, what is not working and the barriers preventing young people from accessing support.
Shiselweni has been selected to pioneer the rollout, with experiences from the region expected to help shape the programme as it moves to other parts of the country. participants are urged to engage fully, ask questions and share their experiences before taking the knowledge gained back to their communities.
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