Issued by: SA Communication Service
NATIONAL YOUTH COMMISSION - PROGRESS BRIEF, JULY 98 ACCOUNTABILITY - TRANSPARENCY
WORK IN PROGRESS
1. NATIONAL YOUTH INFORMATION SERVICES
"Access to information is a key component in addressing the needs of young women and men and their communities" Section 8.5.1. National Youth Policy.
Launched on 15 June, the National Youth Information Service is a project of the National Youth Commission in association with Intekom, the Universal Services Agency, the CSIR, the HSRC and Lifeline (who provide crisis counseling back-up to our call operators). Comprising a toll free National Youth Counselling Line an Internet web-site, it is intended to eventually be South Africa's gateway to all essential information for and regarding youth in South Africa. For its pilot phase, the service centres around providing youth with key information regarding HIV/AIDS, career and academic development and youth rights. Information can be accessed by young people via the national toll free line, 0800 000 001, or via the Internet at www.vis.co.za. Reports from our call centre operators are that the service has been well-utilised by young people, with the strongest issues of enquiry relating to HIV-AIDS. The NYC intends supplementing the service with the production of a comprehensive and authoritative "Youth Survival Guide" in early 1999.
NATIONAL YOUTH INFORMATION SERVICES: A NATIONAL YOUTH COMMISSION PROJECT
National Youth Information Service provides youth with direct access to information and advice on HIV/AIDS, career choices and youth rights - ALL FOR FREE!
National Youth Line: 0800 000 001 (toll free)
Internet information service: www.vis.co.za
2. NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE TECHNICAL TASK TEAM
"The National Youth Commission will prepare a detailed Green Paper on a National Youth Service Programme ... which will lay the basis and direction for its establishment" Section 8.1.4, National Youth Policy.
Arising from one of the key mandates of the Youth sector to government in the National Youth Policy, the process of developing a comprehensive National Youth Service concept proposal / Green Paper for government has already been initiated by the National Youth Commission. In accordance with the mandates of the policy, a Technical Task Team of recognised experts in the areas of service, voluntarism and youth development has been established by the National Youth Commission. Once all contractual details have been ratified by the Department of State Expenditure, the composition and function of the Task Team will be publicity announced via a press conference. In accordance with the National Youth Policy, a Review Team attached to the Green Paper development process will also be formed, consisting of representatives of key stakeholder sectors. The National Youth Service Technical Task Team will hold specific media and public briefings of its own around progress and issues related to its work over the course of the next three months.
3. INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON YOUTH AFFAIRS
"The Commission shall promote a uniformity of approach by all organs of state to matters involving youth" Section 3(f) 1996 National Youth Commission Act.
The Inter-Departmental Committee on Youth Affairs was established in 1997 by the NYC in accordance with the National Youth Policy as a structure within government. Incorporating 38 government departments and chaired by the NYC, the Committee is meant to co-ordinate all government youth programmes, oversee programme implementation and and facilitate collaborative programme planning and review across all relevant departments. The NYC led a detailed process of strategic planning in this regard involving all government departments in early 1998. The mandate to co-ordinate a comprehensive national framework, of Government services, programmes, research and initiatives affecting young women and men across all relevant Government departments reached fruition in the completion of the first annual work programme of the IDC which was handed over to Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on National Youth Day earlier this year. Meetings to monitor and evaluate the progress of this government work on youth will continue over the course of the year. Information gained from departments on their activities is in process of being consolidated and will form the basis for a modest publication, A Guide to Government Youth Programmes, which will be distributed within the youth sector.
4. NATIONAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY
"A National Youth Employment Strategy shall be prepared through collaboration between the Department of Labour and the National Youth Commission" Section 8.3.3. National Youth Policy
i. National Youth Employment Clearing House
The NYC is in the process of finalising the concept of a national clearing house which will provide young people entering the labour market access to up-to-date, relevant labour market information. The NYC and local specialists in this area are currently engaging with a team of foreign experts who have been involved in the successful operations of state and federal clearing houses of this type both in the United States and elsewhere.
ii) Skills development and enterprise initiative
The NYC is working in conjunction with the Department of Labour and Ntsika Enterprises on the development of skills development and job placement programmes for young people. The process is nearing the end of the planning phase and further advisories on its outcomes will be issued in due course. A second component of this programme has the NYC working in conjunction with both the Department of Labour and Ntsika Enterprises in the design of a national youth entrepeneurship programme.
5. NATIONAL YOUTH HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME
"The development of a National HIV and AIDS Strategy will involve close participation by young women and men who are living with the disease" Section 8.2.2, National Youth Policy.
This key programme of the NYC is situated supportively with regard to the considerable programmatic activity on the part of government and civil society in attempting to meet the educational, advocacy and public awareness challenges in facing up to the biggest threat our young people face at this moment. A comprehensive planning and consultation process has been completed by the NYC in support of launching the pilot phase of this programme in KwaZulu Natal. The key intention of the programme is to go beyond the generic HIV/AIDS messages and specifically reach out to young people regarding the issues and urgencies relating to the life choices they make with regard to either avoiding, or coping with, the disease. A functional relationship is intended with the Health Department's HIV-AIDS campaign insofar as the NYC programme will seek to bring the youth to the table in accepting the responsibilities incumbent on young people in the era of HIV-AIDS. The programme is driven by three activity areas:
i.) The provision of capacity-building, education and training for youth organisations, youth leaders and young people to deal, counsel and lead on matters of HIV-AIDS. The clear intention is of course to make them captains of their own anti HIV-AIDS ships wherever they may have influence.
ii.) The Positive Living Ambassadors Project will involve a group of personable young people who are living with HIV and AIDS, in an extensive peer communication programme at schools, civics and community groupings. These ambassadors of hope to other young people are in the process of completing their training and will be deployed to provide young people wherever they can be gathered with information on the disease, preventive and avoidance strategies, counselling and positive images of young people living and coping with AIDS. The KZN pilot phase of this project kicks off at the start of September and runs until December, when the strategies to expand its reach and impact should kick in.
iii.) A Public Awareness Campaign, specifically targeting youth is being designed for the lead-up period to World AIDS Day on 1 December. Finality on its content and shape will be achieved once the Health Department's newly-established Chief Directorate for the National HIV-AIDS Campaign has been liaised and co-ordinated with in terms of its plans and intentions.
The NYC has been able to secure a consultant from the United Nations FPA to assist with the entire HIV/AIDS programme. The National AIDS Convention of Southern Africa is a key partner in the project. Most importantly, the NYC has secured significant donor interest in a youth-targeted HIV-AIDS campaign. Further announcements will be issued once commitments have been finalised.
6. RESEARCH
"The National Youth Commission will, as a matter of priority, design a strategy to ensure the current gaps in youth research are addressed" Section 9.1.1.1 National Youth Policy.
The NYC has successfully secured funding for a mammoth and authoritative research project on youth in South Africa. From the NYC's 1997 research study, "The Situation of Youth in South Africa" - a secondary literature research project commissioned to the Community Agency for Social Enquiry - it was quite clear that tremendous gaps exist in current research on youth issues. Additionally, the NYC has found in terms of proceeding with its own work in key areas like National Youth Service, for example - that necessary, detailed information on the location, profile and situation of disaggregated categories of youth does not necessarily exist. The research will be intended to fill out all remaining gaps in our formal knowledge and understanding of youth in South Africa and provide both the NYC, as well as the youth sector, an authoritative basis for advocacy and programmatic work. The contract for conducting the research has been awarded to the YES Consortium and they are currently in consultation with the NYC regarding the detailed finalisation of the research brief, All progress and significant findings of the research process will be communicated as a matter of course. The final research will be made available on the Youth Information Services Web-Site.
7 PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EDWARD DE BONO FOUNDATION
After discussions between the NYC and representatives of the De Bono Foundation, the NYC agreed to test De Bono techniques and methodology as part of its work with young prisoners at Westville Prison. By the accounts of prisoners and warders the programme has been a remarkable success. More to follow.
8. CAPACITY-BUILDING & SUPPORT FOR THE YOUTH SECTOR
"The Commission will work to.. ensure the provision of information, training programmes, human resource development... and the mobilisation of financial resources for capacity building (in the youth sector)" Section 9.1.1.1 National Youth Policy.
The NYC has successfully secured foreign funding for the Streetwise organisation. which deals with placing homeless youth into stable home environments. A cheque for R250 000 was handed over to the organisation on National Youth Day. Additionally, the NYC has negotiated training and capacity-building agreements with organisations in Belgium and Denmark. Youth organisations and provincial youth commissions have been able to send trainees on these courses. An agreement between the NYC and the Association of Western Parliamentarians (AWEPA) has provided for the training of provincial youth workers in areas of organisational and budgetary management. The NYC is in the process of quantifying our involvement in this area and details will be contained in our Annual Report provisionally set for release in September.
These are the key mandated programmatic tasks of the NYC for 1998 and early 1999. Of course, the NYC also has the responsibility of overseeing the formal adoption and implementation of the National Youth Policy as a direction for government. We will be communicating regularly with media and stakeholders on the specifics of each programme over the course of the year. Interest - critical, supportive or neutral - is always welcomed since it assists us in fulfilling our commitment to responsiveness and accountability. Hopefully too, by the end of this year, our commitment to youth development would also have been practically validated.