Give youth opportunities, faith leaders told

Phalombe district religious leaders have been advised to give a chance to youths in different matters concerning their spiritual and day to day lives.

The leaders were told this during an interface with the youths in a meeting which was conducted by the district’s youth office.

Phalombe’s District Youth Officer (DYO) McNeil Shire said  the meeting was held with an aim of enlightening the leaders on things that affect the youths.

“The aim of this meeting was to enlighten the faith leaders on issues concerning youth development, we saw that in the past these leaders weren’t taking part in issues affecting the youths,” Shire told Malawi24 after the meeting.

The DYO added that leaving out religion on matters concerning the development of the youths will see many young people being left behind.

“Religious institutions are one of the entities which have a number of youths under their jurisdiction. Since some restrict the use of condoms we have also enlightened each other on how bodies work and on how one can prevent from contracting sexually transmitted diseases,” said Shire.

On his part, Phalombe District Interfaith Committee Chairperson Sheikh Abdullah Sitolo said through both Quran and the Bible youths can be taught how to grow spiritually.

He however noted that  religion prohibits people from using protective measures for preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and pregnancies.

“When we see where the world is today it is important for the youths to be using contraceptive methods but with proper reasons. So we have agreed that someday we should mobilise the youths and invite the DYO to share with them knowledge about their development,” Sitolo said.