Officials working in the Youth Sector in Karonga District have urged Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to implement more projects to specifically target youths amid concerns over lack of youth related projects in the district.
The concerns were aired out recently during a district stakeholders youth conference that among others brought together a number of NGOs and government departments working in the youth sector in the district.
According to Karonga District Youth Officer (DYO) Jessie Wasambo, the lack of youth targeted projects is hindering the development of youths as they are being left behind in developmental activities.
She said as a result of being sidelined in projects, youths are indulging in harmful practices that could bring negative impacts to their lives.
“There are some NGOs who come with projects and don’t specifically target young people. They just say the youths are within their projects but what we want is projects directly targeting youths because a majority of people in this district and the country are youths,” she said.
Concurring with the DYO, a young person in the district Aaron Kumwenda noted that failure to include youths among projects has negatively affected young people.
He added that if the youths are to develop and be empowered, there is need for specific projects that will aim at uplifting the youths welfare thereby making them independent and empowered as citizens to contribute to the growth of the country.
However, Chief Youth Officer in the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Labor and Manpower Development Joseph Sinkala urged stakeholders involved in the youth sector to collaborate in order to uplift the lives of youths in Karonga.
“If there is no collaboration in the district among stakeholders it means they will not be able to benefit from the resources that come to the district hence in the end youths are the ones that will be missing out,” he explained.
