BY THEMBA ZWANE
MANZINI– Government has reaffirmed its full commitment to supporting the Eswatini National Youth Development Coordination Framework, signalling a renewed push towards coordinated, inclusive, and results-driven youth development across the country.
This was revealed by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani Nzima, during the Youth Sector Coordination Framework Validation Workshop held this morning at the George Hotel. The workshop brought together government officials, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector, traditional leadership, and young people to validate the framework.
“As the Ministry responsible for youth affairs, we reaffirm our full commitment to supporting this process,” Nzima said. “We will continue to provide clear policy guidance, strengthen inter-ministerial coordination, and advocate for adequate resource allocation to support youth development priorities.”
The minister said it gave him great pleasure to join participants at what he described as a critical technical stakeholder engagement, emphasising the importance of collaboration in shaping a coordinated national youth agenda. He extended special appreciation to development partners, particularly the European Union, for their continued support to youth development initiatives.
“The purpose of this workshop is to collectively review and validate the Coordination Framework for Youth Development,” Nzima said. “This framework is intended to ensure that youth programmes and interventions across the country are aligned, strategic, and capable of delivering tangible results.”
Nzima acknowledged that, for many years, youth development efforts have often been implemented in isolation. While such initiatives were well-intentioned, he noted that fragmentation limited their overall impact. He said the validation workshop marked a decisive shift towards a coordinated, results-driven approach that responds to the real and evolving challenges facing young people, including unemployment, skills mismatches, health vulnerabilities, and limited participation in governance and decision-making.
“By bringing together government, development partners, civil society, the private sector, traditional leadership, and youth themselves, we are strengthening collaboration, promoting accountability, and laying the foundation for coherence and complementarity in youth development interventions,” he said.
The minister explained that the Coordination Framework is a practical and action-oriented tool, designed to guide how stakeholders work together rather than merely outlining what they do. He said it establishes clear governance arrangements, defines institutional roles and responsibilities, and introduces standard operating procedures for planning, monitoring, and reporting.
Importantly, Nzima said the framework is anchored on five operational pillars: institutional alignment, evidence-based planning, resource optimisation, monitoring and evaluation, and meaningful youth participation. These pillars, he said, provide a structured approach to effective coordination, efficient use of resources, and the achievement of measurable outcomes for young people.
He further highlighted that the framework is firmly aligned with the National Youth Policy, whose strategic pillars include education and training; health and wellbeing; economic empowerment and innovation; governance and leadership; social competence; social capital; food security; and monitoring and evaluation.
“When the Framework and the Policy are implemented together, synergy is created,” Nzima said. “Coordination reduces duplication, closes gaps, and ensures that interventions are responsive to the needs of young people.”
The minister underscored the central coordinating role of the Eswatini National Youth Council (ENYC), while stressing that sustainable youth development requires collective ownership.
“Transformative youth development cannot rest on one institution alone,” he said. “It can only be achieved through shared responsibility and collaborative action.”
