MWAKA LENGALENGA
Lusaka
A YOUTH Sounding Board (YSB) comprising 25 young people drawn from the country’s 10 provinces has been established to serve as an advisory body to the European Union (EU) delegation to Zambia.
European Union Ambassador to Zambia and COMESA Karolina Stasiak says the initiative is the beginning of a new chapter in the EU’s partnership with young people in Zambia.
Ms Stasiak said the board has been launched in partnership with ActionAid and Restless Development.
“We’re starting a new chapter in the partnership between the delegation and the young people of Zambia. And this chapter starts with you,” she said at the launch of the initiative yesterday.
Ms Stasiak told the inaugural cohort that they had not simply been selected but entrusted with a responsibility to serve as advisors and partners to the EU.
She said the board’s mission is to ensure that the EU’s work in Zambia is more participatory, relevant, meaningful and impactful for young people.
“In Zambia, nearly 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30, and the median age is 18. In most European countries, 46 is the median age.
This means Zambia has extraordinary potential.
It is a country powered by youth,” the diplomat said.
Ms Stasiak, however, observed that the youth often remain underrepresented in decision-making processes, with policies affecting them frequently shaped without their direct participation.
She said the Youth Sounding Board model, which exists in several countries, is part of the EU youth action plan that seeks to place young people at the centre of the EU’s external action as partners, advisors and co-creators.
And Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts Elvis Nkandu said the establishment of YSB comes at an opportune time when youths are demanding meaningful engagement in shaping policies that affect their lives.
“Young people are not asking to be passive recipients of policy decisions, they are calling for meaningful engagement,” Mr Nkandu said.
“I believe that this platform affirms that youth participation must be institutionalised, structured and sustained,” he said.
