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Acting IFPYB Chairperson Pat Lebenya-Ntanzi has called on government
to prioritise youth development which remains one of the most complex
challenges facing South Africa today.

Lebenya-Ntanzi said that it is young people who are most severely
affected by negative socio-economic factors such as HIV / Aids, high
levels of unemployment, poverty and the lack of participation in
political and economic development processes.

"Today, many youths still face the same problems as the generation of
1976. Despite the fact that we have made great strides since achieving
democracy, unemployment particularly among the youth remains a major
concern," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.

Lebenya-Ntanzi said that after fifteen years of democracy, we still
can't boast that a better life for all has been achieved. "Education
is not up to scratch. During the apartheid era, school children were
exposed to intimidation and violence by the police. Today, school
children experience intimidation and violence in their own classrooms
from their own teachers and classmates," she said.

Recently the Presidency launched the National Youth Development
Agency. It is an open secret that this development was among other
things, due to the IFP who has over the decade raised a number of
concerns about the incompetence of the erstwhile National Youth
Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund.

The IFP believes that the importance and effectiveness of the Agency
ultimately relies on youth organisations and government departments
and their willingness to enforce youth centred policies and programmes.

"The message to the new Agency and its leadership is clear. To those
young people in the rural areas and slums struggling to break the
bonds of mass misery, we must pledge our best efforts to help them
help themselves," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.

The IFP believes that with courage and confidence we must pursue one
goal - that of ensuring that young people in our country participate
as equal citizens in our economic and political processes. "It should
be our main priority - that our youth are only judged by the content
of their character not by the colour of their skin or political
affiliation. This is our hope. This is the faith that young people and
citizens have in the new Agency and its leadership. So they dare not
fail," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.