Rural youth given avoice in local governance

Young people in the rural areas of the Erongo region will get the chance to have their voices heard in local governance at the end of August.

Rural Rise Community Empowerment is implementing the ‘New Voices, New Narratives in Public Policy Discourse’ project, which is supported by the European Union.

The project will be launching a youth community dialogue in the region’s rural communities.

The dialogue, titled ‘From The Ground Up’ (FTGU), will take place under the theme ‘Rural Youth Participation in Local Governance and Access to Opportunities for Economic and Social Advancement’.

Rural Rise spokesporson Issaskar Tjandero says the dialogue will take place at Utuseb from 29 to 31 August, at Uis from 12 to 14 September and at Okombahe from 26 to 28 September.

He says the project will involve 200 young people from all three communities.

“The dialogues will be semi-structured, with facilitators using open-ended questions to guide the discussion while allowing organic conversation and participant feedback,” Tjandero says.

This will allow participants to share their stories and experiences so that their voices can be captured for input on policies affecting rural development.

The dialogues further aim to establish rural youth networks under Rural Rise.

Rural rise founder and chief executive Eslien Tsuses says the initiative is a comprehensive policy intervention aimed at empowering rural young people in Namibia by addressing significant barriers to participation in decision-making processes, and accessing opportunities for economic and social advancement.

“FTGU recognises the pivotal role of the youth in sustainable development and seeks to transform the socio-economic landscape of rural communities by establishing active youth participation and leadership,” she says.

Tsuses says rural young people in Namibia face numerous challenges that prevent them from actively participating in policy and development processes.

According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, rural young people in developing countries are among the least involved in policymaking.

Disengagement is exacerbated by policy frameworks that frequently have a ‘urban bias’, ignoring the unique needs and vulnerabilities of the rural youth.

Furthermore, an adult-centric approach dominates policymaking, seeing young people as passive recipients rather than active contributors to policy design and implementation.

According to Tsuses, the FTGU initiative aims to achieve goals such as establishing national identity and unity, developing skills and capabilities, encouraging literacy and artistic activities, mobilising funding and advocating gender equality.