Speech By Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda President of the Republic of Malawi During he Meeting with Malawi Hu!

an Rights "outh #etwor$ at %a!u&u Palace on Monday' (th )pril' *+,-.

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 His Excellency Chief Justice Richard Banda, SC (Retired); Rt. Hon. Sosten Gwen we, !eo"les !arty !residential

Runnin #ate and $inister of %ndustry and &rade; Hon. Clara $ary $a'un wa, $inister of Gender, (o#en and Children )ffairs; Hon. Enoc' Chihana, $!, $inister of *outh and S"orts;
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 $rs. Hawa +dilowe, Chief Secretary to the Go,ern#ent; -r. .in do# $alawi .wa"ata, Hu#an

!resident,

Ri hts *outh +etwor'; $ahi#/o $doe, 0+%CE1

Resident Re"resentati,e; Senior Go,ern#ent 2fficials here "resent; Re"resentati,es 2r anisations here;
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of

*outh

re"resented

 -istin uished Gentle#en.

3adies

and

I welcome you all to Kamuzu Palace this morning. It is with great pleasure that I interface with youth representatives in my capacity as Head of State and Presidential Candidate of the mighty Peoples Party in the May 2

!ripartite "lections.
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#et me congratulate the organisers of this function $ecause it will afford young people an opportunity to interact with Presidential aspirants on their plans as regards young persons in our country.

%oung people remain the focus of my government $ecause we realise that the youth are in ma&ority' energetic' adventurous and they

need support for them to actively participate in nation $uilding.

"ducation

is

an

instrument

for

empowering the poor' the wea( and the voiceless as it provides them with e)ual opportunity to participate in local and national development. "ducation helps to develop the youth of a nation.

Children and youth in general have $een at the heart of my wor(. !his has influenced my policy perspective in developing in programmes empowering and young

strategies people.

*gainst this $ac(ground' that the Peoples Party em$races education as a tool for the creation and e+pansion of human capacities and a$ilities.
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-istin uished Gentle#en,

3adies

and

!he youth,those aged $etween -. and /. years,represent proportion of a our

significant

country0s population. Many of them are unemployed. Many more have not completed their education. *nd indeed those who have gone to school still lac( appropriate training and s(ills to help them o$tain a decent &o$.
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My 1overnment recognizes that if we have to realise our vision to eradicate poverty and create wealth' we need to harness the potential of our youth and provide them with the means and opportunities to fulfill that potential. 2ur future rests on their success. success. !heir future is our

-istin uished Gentle#en, Creating full

3adies

and

and

productive

employment for our young people is (ey to promoting sustained

economic growth and alleviating poverty. !he most recent 3elfare Monitoring Survey 42 --5 estimates that youth unemployment is around 67 percent' with females slightly higher than males.
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2f those that are employed' the ma&ority' a$out 8percent are

engaged in farming where they do not receive regular salary.

%outh unemployment has dire and far reaching effects on our economy as it has negative impact on

productivity and economic growth. 9nemployed youth are more

suscepti$le to negative influences' to perpetrate or fall victim to crime

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and indulge in ris(y $ehaviours. It is no coincidence that the HI:;*I<S rate among young people is high' given the strong lin(s $etween HI: and *I<S' youth and poverty.

-istin uished Gentle#en 2ur country'

3adies

and

therefore'

needs

innovative strategies and programs to spur economic enough

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growth &o$s for

and our

generate

growing

youthful we $oth

population. realize academic

*s that and

government education'

vocational' forms the hu$ of any development process and agenda.

"ducation occupies a central place in the development of an individual and is a (ey investment for society as a whole. It is an instrument for economic transformation. It is an instrument for empowering the poor'
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the wea( and the voiceless as it provides them with e)ual opportunity to participate in local and national development. "ducation helps to develop the youth of a nation.

*gainst

this

$ac(drop'

my

government em$raced education as a tool for the creation and e+pansion of human capacities and a$ilities.

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-istin uished Gentle#en

3adies

and

However' $efore I turn to the many youth programmes and initiatives that my government has put in place in the past two years let me share with some of the many initiatives that I have underta(en in my

personal capacity in the area of children and youth empowerment.

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-istin uished Gentle#en

3adies

and

Children and youth in general have $een at the heart of my wor(. !his is a &ourney that started more than / years ago.

In the area of education' I founded the =oyce >anda ?oundation

schools in >lantyre.

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@egarded as one of the centres of academic e+cellence' the schools provide high )uality education to children from middle income earning families. In the area of orphan education' I esta$lished the =oyce >anda ?oundation secondary school for orphans at <omasi in Aom$a. !he school is free and currently has a total of 2 children.

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In order to reach out to more needy students' I esta$lished the "dith Mtila Scholarship Programme that provides scholarships to deserving youth. Currently' I am supporting over /' students at secondary university students

school levelB 2

in all the constituency colleges of the 9niversity of Malawi. I also have three girls who are pursuing

university education in the 9nited States of *merica.

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!his year I am sending a total of 2 students to pursue various university programmes a$road. 2ut of these' will $e going to @ussia to study

medicineB 8 will pursue civil and mechanic engineering at the

*merican 9niversity in the 9nited *ra$ "mirates. 2 will $e going to the 9nited States. !he students are with us this morning and may I as( them all to stand.

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%ou may also wish to (now that I run /7 orphan Care Centres across the currently. !he Centres support well over /'7 orphans with elementary education. In the area of youth empowerment' I esta$lished %outh Movement for <evelopment 4%2M2<"5. !his is a whole programme under the =oyce >anda ?oundation which targets out of school youth with various

economic programmes.
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!hese include the Ka$aza Initiative. 9nder this programme' we are providing motor cycles to our youth $oth in ur$an and rural areas. !his is an onCgoing programme and we hope to reach out to over . youth in the ne+t . years. '

In the area of sports development' through %2M2<"' we have

introduced the Kconstituency trophy.

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million interC

!his is a sports initiative that is under way and targets youth $oth in rural and ur$an areas.

!urning to government programmes' my government fast trac(ed the review of the -667 %outh Policy. I am pleased to report that the Dational %outh Policy was approved $y Ca$inet on 8th *ugust' 2 -/ and eventually launched $y myself on -2th *ugust' 2 -/.
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Dational %outh Policy commenced without delay and so far a num$er of activities have ta(en place that includesE -5 #aunch of the Dational %outh Service Programme on 2nd Dovem$er' 2 -/ in Deno. !he s(ills programme promotes and to

development It see(s

agriculture.

empower the youth so that they are economically active.

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*lready' Deno Integrated %outh <evelopment founded on Centre zero was waste

concept where products from one agricultural side is used on the other. Pilot centres for this programme were already

identified and includeB Deno integrated %outh <evelopment Centre' M$elwa Mi(uyu ?arm in Aom$a' in

Institute

Mzim$a' Dtonda in Dtcheu and

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Hewe

in

@umphi. is e+pected

!he to

programme

spread out to the remaining defunct Malawi %oung

Pioneers $ases. 25 Dational %outh Policy

dissemination has ta(en shape as already the media' <istrict and town *ssem$lies have

$een made aware of the policy and their role in the

implementation process.
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Plans

are

underway

to

disseminate the %outh Policy to various sta(eholders that

include' youth D12s' Private sector and faith $ased

organisations. /5 %outh "nterprise <evelopment ?und 4%"<"?5 still remains an engine for youthFs self

employment.

*ssorted

e)uipments are provided to the youth on loan to ena$le them

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contri$ute to the manufacturing industry. Soft loans are also provided as this is the (ey $an( for the youth. My 1overnment is considering recapitalising the fund in the ne+t financial year to ena$le more youth access the loan and intensify loan repayment. G5 In the area and of youth

participation

leadership'

my government endeavoured
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to include young people in various decision ma(ing $odies that includeB High #evel Council' >oardsB Civil

<evelopment Parastatal

ServiceB Ca$inet and to sum it all the appointment of

Honoura$le Sosten 1wengwe as my running mate in the May 2 polls. I pledge to consider

more young people in positions of influence.

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.5 =o$ e+perience is vital for our youth who often times are denied opportunity of

employment $ecause of lac( of e+perience. It is for this reason that my government is wor(ing on Dational within Internship the civil the

Programme service completion assessment'

and of we

after

vacancy shall $e

e+panding this programme to

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target society

private

sector'

civil and

organizations

development partners. 75 %outh health as a right re)uires government to ta(e appropriate steps to ensure the safety of lives of young people. It is for this reason that my government is promotingE se+ual healthB

reproductive

programmes dealing with the fight against HI: and *ids'

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child

la$our

and

early young

marriages people. H5 In the

among

area

of

talent

identification and development' programmes such as

Presidential Initiative on Sports help to unveil raw talent in sports which is good for the development of our &unior and senior national teams.

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-istin uished Gentle#en

3adies

and

I have moved away from podium rhetoric to action on the ground. I regard the youth as leaders today and tomorrow. It is therefore

important that you get involved in the development of this country through your active participation in all sectors.

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I am committed to see to it that the youth of Malawi are the engine for development. In this regard' I will endeavour to allocate more

resources to the youth sector. I would also li(e to urge all young people to $e proactive. -istin uished 3adies and

Gentle#en, I thank you all for your attention!

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