28 February 2014
Young people from all around the country will get exposure to various career opportunities when the Presidential Youth Indaba kicks in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg on Friday.
The four-day indaba will provide a platform for young South Africans to empower themselves. It will also have an expo component to help connect youngsters to job opportunities, career information, scholarships, bursary programmes and enterprise development support.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is expected to address 500 youngsters from the country’s nine provinces on Friday afternoon.
In April 2013, government, labour, business and civil society signed a Youth Employment Accord, committing themselves to improving the education and training of young people and helping them to find jobs and start businesses. The government committed to increase the number of young people employed in the public sector, while certain industries committed to setting youth development targets.
The indaba is a platform to give effect to the Youth Employment Accord as the country grapples with finding solutions to the high unemployment rate, especially among young people.
The Economic Development Department will host the indaba at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, with Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel leading the indaba, supported by Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane.
The indaba is expected to produce a declaration with resolutions on how, together with young people, all stakeholders can address the issue of youth unemployment.
The indaba will form a Presidential Youth Working Group to meet with the President from time to time to appraise him on the progress of the implementation of the indaba declarations and youth development post the indaba.
The young people attending the indaba will be expected to work together with various stakeholders to come up with solutions to the socio-economic challenges facing young people in the country, particularly as they relate to jobs and skills.
The indaba will also promote social dialogue between the youth, government, business, labour and youth development agencies.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
