BuaNews (Tshwane)
Mantshele Wa Ga Tau
8 March 2002
Pretoria — The youth should be mobilised and organised to ensure that they understand and contribute to sustainable development in South Africa and the region.
Opening the National Youth Summit ahead of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg last night, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad said development should be about the empowerment of children, women, the disabled and the previously marginalized.
More than a hundred young men and women have gathered in Johannesburg for the three-day summit in preparation for the WSSD - to be held also in Johannesburg - later this year.
Answering a question on unemployment - a serious challenge for today's youth - the Minister encouraged them to make use of the R1-billion Umsobomvu Youth Fund, specifically created to empower youth and their communities.
The summit is aimed at helping the South African youth prepare itself for the WSSD through a crash course on the issues discussed at the Earth Summit in Rio Je Janeiro, Brazil, ten years ago.
It was here that Agenda 21, a comprehensive programme of action, was adopted calling on governments to support the programmes and projects of sustainable development, said National Youth Commission (NYC) chairperson, Jabu Mbalula.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative John Ohiorhenuan said while progress has been made, fundamental challenges remain because many have not been addressed and the gap between rich and poor has widened since the Rio Summit.
Giving a presentation on the topic 'Major Groups/Stakeholder Participation - A key Ingredient for the Success of the WSSD Agenda,' JP Louw of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said the success of the WSSD depended on a global partnership between governments, stakeholders and development finance institutions.
He pointed out that the Johannesburg Summit would not re-negotiate agenda 21, but set clear targets like monitoring, delivery and financing mechanisms.(ADF3)
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