Press Releases - 13 June 2010
“Parliament’s Bokamoso Ba Rona Youth Campaign – Celebrating Youth Month”
RELEASE
June 13, 2010
“Parliament’s Bokamoso Ba Rona Youth Campaign –
Celebrating Youth Month”
As
part of its nation-building imperative, Parliament has launched the Bokamoso Ba
Rona (“Our Future”) Youth Campaign to
engage young people on issues pertinent to their development. This campaign is
designed to engage young people between the ages of 12 and 25 on issues that
affect their lives, and to do so in spaces that are familiar to them. By creating
a platform for open dialogue about these socio-economic challenges, young
people can come together and shape a common vision for their future, and that
of a positive prosperous South Africa, united in its diversity.
As
the youth celebrates Youth Month 2010, it is important that we not only
remember, but also honour the sacrifices made by the youth of 1976. The events
of that epic year represented the passion and tenacity of youth, and serve as a
reminder that age is not a determinant of what impact one can have.
While
South Africa has very robust youth structures, there are still many challenges
facing Youth development. Young people make up 41% of the unemployed, they constitute
49% of the prison population, and approximately 2.5 million young people
between 18 and 24 years old neither work nor are they in any kind of education
or training. In addition, the HIV prevalence rate of those between the ages of
15 and 24 years is around 8.7% (South African National HIV Survey, 2008).
While
the challenges young people face today are different to those of 34 years ago,
the spirit and passion that drove the youth of 1976 must be enlivened if these
issues are to be dealt with. Young people today must be encouraged to become
more active citizens, and to seek solutions to their problems by taking their
futures into their own hands. The Bokamoso Ba Rona Campaign has shown that
young people are interested in matters of national importance. During its first
phase the Campaign achieved the following:
§
100 Youth
Ambassadors from across the country have been trained in facilitation,
presentation and conflict resolution;
§
Over 800 members have
joined our FaceBook group “Boka Buddies”;
§
Over 16 000
“marched” to Parliament in a virtual march to attend the 2010 State of the
Nation Address;
§
Over 50 000
responded to our Social Survey on MXiT;
§
More than 30 000
have added Bokamoso as a ‘contact’ on MXiT
This participation is testament to the need
to engage young people, and whilst Parliament provides a means for
citizens to actively participate in its legislative and oversight business, it
is worthwhile to emphasize the innovative strides that this project is taking
in breaking new ground and making Parliament accessible in new spaces.
The social survey conducted on MXiT
revealed that approx. 95% of our youth respondents believe that they could make
a positive contribution to the country. It appears that while young people have
many difficult life choices to make, they understand their role to be central
to the outcome of their lives, and are well poised to positively affect change
in their communities, and the country at large.
To learn more about this campaign visit: www.bokabuddies.co.za or contact Tumi
Mogorosi at tmogorosi@parliament.gov.za
at the offices of the Parliamentary Millennium Programme on 021 403 8038
Issued by HWB
Communications, on behalf of the Parliamentary Millennium Programme.
For information,
please contact:
Jill Merckel Parliamentary
Millennium Programme
Tel: 021 403 8285/084 511 9458
e-mail: jmerckel@parliament.gov.za
or
Martin Slabbert
HWB Communications (Pty) Ltd
Tel: 021 462 0416/ 079 500 1503
Email: martin@hwb.co.za
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