Date: 26/06/2006
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Opening of National Youth Indaba
Opening of the National Youth Indaba by the Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Nylspruit, Mpumalanga
Theme ‘Deepening youth participation to fight poverty and create work’
MEC for Health and Social Service Mr Pogisho Pasha
Umjindi Executive Mayor Mr Richard Lukhele
Officials from Health, Social Development and Defence and Premiers Office
Youth ambassadors
Provincial Youth Commission
Community leaders
NGOs, CBOs and FBOs
Our Partners and sponsors
Educators and learners
Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening,
It gives me a great pleasure to be part of this important occasion to officially open the Youth Indaba that aims at deepening youth participation in issues affecting their lives. In general, adults have a tendency to discuss and even reach decisions on behalf of the young people without their involvement.
Tonight, when I look across this hall, I notice the presence of many young people, and therefore commend all adults in this room, for engaging youths. This shows that adults are moving in the right direction, in bridging the communication gap between adults and young people. For that, we all deserve a round of applause.
The Youth Indaba is an extension of our country’s celebration and commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Soweto students’ uprising, as we all did on the 16th of June. The theme “Age of Hope” for this month touches the hearts of many South Africans, as we remember what happened in our country thirty years ago.
There is a clear indication that even in this Youth Indaba, we have in our midst powerful, brave and determined young people who are willing to continue a struggle for development.
The “Age of hope” should therefore indeed achieve:
* Deepening youth participation in development.
* Fighting and alleviating poverty through job creation and the promotion of good nutrition through local community initiatives.
* Encouraging young people to actively participate in the reconstruction and development of their own communities.
Your involvement, open and honest communication will assist in the development of relevant programmes regarding health issues. Today’s youths are faced with various challenges that include amongst others poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including, HIV and AIDS.
The Youth Indaba therefore, aims at identifying mechanisms to address these challenges, and strengthening youth participation in youth development programmes. One of the highlights of this Youth Indaba, is the importance of integration and collaboration of efforts by the various Government Departments, as well as the relevant non-governmental organisation (NGOs) dealing with young people.
No single department or NGO can address youth issues as an entity. Therefore, throughout this Youth Indaba you will be able to see how the various departments contribute towards improving the quality of life in our country.
A build-up of activities has taken place as a contribution to the Youth Month. My department is counting on several activities such as the Healthy Lifestyles campaign, World No Tobacco Day, Healthy Environments for Children Initiative and many more, to make a positive impact in the lives of people.
During the commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse in Barberton, reference was made to the shocking statistics yielded by the South African Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, conducted a few years ago. The study highlights the magnitude of the problem of substance abuse in our country.
The results of the study needs to encourage all of us to jointly share the burden of the challenges facing the young people and develop plans to overcome risky behaviour. Subsequent to this evening, various Government Departments will take you through a journey of learning and exposure to new experiences.
Volunteerism is a concept that cuts across all sectors.
I urge you to embrace volunteerism as a learning exposure and opportunity to interact with various people, learn new things and therefore widen one’s horizons and future prospects. It should not to be perceived in a negative connotation of working for “mahala”. As a volunteer, you could make a contribution as in youth development programmes.
Thank you for eagerly participating in this morning’s Health Walk as a demonstration towards promoting physical activity. Adopting health promoting behaviour as young people is a good investment for a healthy adult life. This will bring value and improve your quality of life.
I am happy to announce that my Department is making headways in the empowerment of school leavers. We have recruited 51 interns to participate in our Internship Programmes. Since this programme started in 2004, 30 young people have been absorbed in the department and others are in the private sector and other government departments.
We are also going to engage our partners, such as Umsobomvu Youth Fund, Youth Commission and other youth organisations, to develop other initiatives to assist with placements of interns.
The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority have registered a number of clinical learnerships for unemployed young people. After these learnerships, certificates for pharmacist assistant, auxiliary nursing, enrolled nursing, and Diplomas in general nursing, primary health care, medical technology, surgical nursing, and others, are awarded. Thousands of learners have been recruited into these learnerships, to ensure that they get access to workplace experience and receive stipend.
A three-year degree Clinical Associate Programme will commence in 2007, targeting school leavers who matriculate with Maths and Biology. Bursaries will be offered to those who qualify. All these programmes seek to assist in halving unemployment among young people in the country.
The department has been engaging with various health stakeholders in our effort to finalise a Charter for the Health Sector. The Health Charter is our attempt to provide a coherent framework for engagement between the public and private health sectors. It is an effort to deal with the inequities between the two sectors as well as the transformation of the private health sector. We are negotiating targets with respect to equity ownership within the context of broad-based black economic empowerment. As government we will always strive to ensure that we champion transformation initiatives that seek to meet the aspirations of the poor and the marginalised.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all our partners and sponsors for their generous support, commitment and dedication to make this Youth Indaba a success. I hope and trust this Indaba will achieve its objectives. Lets all work together to protect the future of our young people.
I now officially declare the Youth Indaba open and wish you a fruitful week.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Health
26 June 2006
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Opening of National Youth Indaba
Opening of the National Youth Indaba by the Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Nylspruit, Mpumalanga
Theme ‘Deepening youth participation to fight poverty and create work’
MEC for Health and Social Service Mr Pogisho Pasha
Umjindi Executive Mayor Mr Richard Lukhele
Officials from Health, Social Development and Defence and Premiers Office
Youth ambassadors
Provincial Youth Commission
Community leaders
NGOs, CBOs and FBOs
Our Partners and sponsors
Educators and learners
Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening,
It gives me a great pleasure to be part of this important occasion to officially open the Youth Indaba that aims at deepening youth participation in issues affecting their lives. In general, adults have a tendency to discuss and even reach decisions on behalf of the young people without their involvement.
Tonight, when I look across this hall, I notice the presence of many young people, and therefore commend all adults in this room, for engaging youths. This shows that adults are moving in the right direction, in bridging the communication gap between adults and young people. For that, we all deserve a round of applause.
The Youth Indaba is an extension of our country’s celebration and commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Soweto students’ uprising, as we all did on the 16th of June. The theme “Age of Hope” for this month touches the hearts of many South Africans, as we remember what happened in our country thirty years ago.
There is a clear indication that even in this Youth Indaba, we have in our midst powerful, brave and determined young people who are willing to continue a struggle for development.
The “Age of hope” should therefore indeed achieve:
* Deepening youth participation in development.
* Fighting and alleviating poverty through job creation and the promotion of good nutrition through local community initiatives.
* Encouraging young people to actively participate in the reconstruction and development of their own communities.
Your involvement, open and honest communication will assist in the development of relevant programmes regarding health issues. Today’s youths are faced with various challenges that include amongst others poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including, HIV and AIDS.
The Youth Indaba therefore, aims at identifying mechanisms to address these challenges, and strengthening youth participation in youth development programmes. One of the highlights of this Youth Indaba, is the importance of integration and collaboration of efforts by the various Government Departments, as well as the relevant non-governmental organisation (NGOs) dealing with young people.
No single department or NGO can address youth issues as an entity. Therefore, throughout this Youth Indaba you will be able to see how the various departments contribute towards improving the quality of life in our country.
A build-up of activities has taken place as a contribution to the Youth Month. My department is counting on several activities such as the Healthy Lifestyles campaign, World No Tobacco Day, Healthy Environments for Children Initiative and many more, to make a positive impact in the lives of people.
During the commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse in Barberton, reference was made to the shocking statistics yielded by the South African Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, conducted a few years ago. The study highlights the magnitude of the problem of substance abuse in our country.
The results of the study needs to encourage all of us to jointly share the burden of the challenges facing the young people and develop plans to overcome risky behaviour. Subsequent to this evening, various Government Departments will take you through a journey of learning and exposure to new experiences.
Volunteerism is a concept that cuts across all sectors.
I urge you to embrace volunteerism as a learning exposure and opportunity to interact with various people, learn new things and therefore widen one’s horizons and future prospects. It should not to be perceived in a negative connotation of working for “mahala”. As a volunteer, you could make a contribution as in youth development programmes.
Thank you for eagerly participating in this morning’s Health Walk as a demonstration towards promoting physical activity. Adopting health promoting behaviour as young people is a good investment for a healthy adult life. This will bring value and improve your quality of life.
I am happy to announce that my Department is making headways in the empowerment of school leavers. We have recruited 51 interns to participate in our Internship Programmes. Since this programme started in 2004, 30 young people have been absorbed in the department and others are in the private sector and other government departments.
We are also going to engage our partners, such as Umsobomvu Youth Fund, Youth Commission and other youth organisations, to develop other initiatives to assist with placements of interns.
The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority have registered a number of clinical learnerships for unemployed young people. After these learnerships, certificates for pharmacist assistant, auxiliary nursing, enrolled nursing, and Diplomas in general nursing, primary health care, medical technology, surgical nursing, and others, are awarded. Thousands of learners have been recruited into these learnerships, to ensure that they get access to workplace experience and receive stipend.
A three-year degree Clinical Associate Programme will commence in 2007, targeting school leavers who matriculate with Maths and Biology. Bursaries will be offered to those who qualify. All these programmes seek to assist in halving unemployment among young people in the country.
The department has been engaging with various health stakeholders in our effort to finalise a Charter for the Health Sector. The Health Charter is our attempt to provide a coherent framework for engagement between the public and private health sectors. It is an effort to deal with the inequities between the two sectors as well as the transformation of the private health sector. We are negotiating targets with respect to equity ownership within the context of broad-based black economic empowerment. As government we will always strive to ensure that we champion transformation initiatives that seek to meet the aspirations of the poor and the marginalised.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all our partners and sponsors for their generous support, commitment and dedication to make this Youth Indaba a success. I hope and trust this Indaba will achieve its objectives. Lets all work together to protect the future of our young people.
I now officially declare the Youth Indaba open and wish you a fruitful week.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Health
26 June 2006
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