Junior Mayor, Sylvia Shapumba from Windhoek High School was officially inaugurated as the City of Windhoek's Junior Council last week, while Councillor, Yanessa De Oliveira from Concordia High School will deputize her.

The Windhoek Mayor, Joseph Uapingene said the future of Windhoek and the country at large depends on the youth which is why they must be represented at all levels of decision-making and adequately empowered to make an impact.

The City of Windhoek said the Junior Council is a leadership development programme established by them in 1999 mainly targeting grade 11 learners from 37 Khomas schools, including private and public schools, to create a platform for young people to participate in decision-making.

"The programme also aims to equip the apprentices with knowledge of local authority's work and empower them to participate in community initiatives," they said.

The Mayor highlighted that as part of their action plan, the Junior Council's main focus will be on environmental awareness, to get Windhoek back to its number one spot of being the cleanest city in Africa.

"They are also going to focus on projects aimed to uplift the livelihood of young people, such as teenage mothers, cancer, and HIV/AIDS awareness," he added.

Shapumba meanwhile said they will also continue on some of the projects from the previous council, which includes the cancer project which focuses on the youth and children suffering from cancer, the elderly project which focuses on raising educational awareness on the plight of the elderly people in the City.