Youth and Society (YAS) says it is geared to help increase youth participation in politics and decision making positions ahead of the coming elections and beyond.
YAS programmes coordinator for human rights and civil society strengthening, Mwandida Theu said this on Friday in Dowa during a capacity building training for young leaders in the district.
The organisation is implementing a democracy in young hands project which among others things seeks to increase youth participation by making them cultivate a spirit of taking up leadership positions.
She said statistics revealed that only 1 percent of youth are in decision making positions hence the need to increase their participation.
She said: “We would like to see more young people taking part not only as voters but also invade spaces where they can be elected as leaders in the political arena.”
She said the organisation will work towards building their capacity through what she said inclusive democracy academy to prepare them for elections and beyond.
Dowa District Youth Network coordinator, Sankhulani Mmbanga applauded the organisation for the initiative saying it will help create space for youth in decision making positions.
“We hope the initiative will help shape up the youth to be the voices of other youth and we are very much sure that we will have a good number of youths participation in the next elections and beyond,” he said.
The project being funded by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP) also aims to mobilize young people to take part in the electoral processes.
