Inhaminga — Mozambique's Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Carlos Sousa said on Tuesday that turning rural districts into development poles to fight against poverty is a real necessity and not mere rhetoric.

Addressing the closing session of a National Youth Meeting, that took place from 24 to 28 October in Cheringoma district, in the central province of Sofala, Sousa admitted that districts have their own vicissitides - but he urged the hundreds of young delegates present to turn these into strengths and resources for local development.

Sousa believed that the meeting he was closing was an event that showed the maturity of Mozambican youth. "During this meeting, young people have shown clearly that they can, by themselves, debate their country's issues and define the way they want to go", he said.

Sousa praised the young delegates for their ability to respect ideological differences and for their attempts to build, in a participatory and democratic fashion, a future that will be better than the present.

He claimed that the project "Holidays Developing the District", organized by final year university students, is one of the answers for effective participation by young people in building a prosperous and balanced Mozambique.

'Cheringoma is just the beginning of a stage that requires hard work between the government and the country's youth for the declaration produced here to be really effective", said Sousa.

He urged participants to continue debating such themes as Youth and Economic Development, and HIV/AIDS, in wider forums, when they returned home.

At the closing session, the participants approved by acclamation the "Cheringoma Declaration" that contains the guide lines for actions to be implemented on the basis of the first National Youth Meeting, held some years previously in the southern city of Chokwe.

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