12 August, 2022
Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Youth Day which aims at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals under the theme: “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages.” It aims at promoting solidarity in collaborating to foster successful and equitable intergenerational relations and partnerships to ensure that “no one is left behind.”
As we commemorate the International Youth Day, our hearts are with the youths in the informal economy, who strive day and night to eke a living in the face of the current economic downfall and COVID-19 pandemic, desperately hoping for a fast reawakening of the economy, defying all the odds. You are our bold and you deserve to be celebrated.
As BVTA, we acknowledge that young people are powerful agents of change and progress when they are educated and empowered to participate in decision making, yet around the world, too many youths are being left behind. They receive substandard education or no education at all, and find few decent employment opportunities. They struggle to access basic sexual and reproductive health information and services. Without these tools, young people find themselves grappling with poverty, early pregnancy, drug abuse and other challenges.
We empathise with all young people who are deposited from universities each year into the informal economy in quest for better livelihoods and greener pastures.
We urge the government and other stakeholders to support young people with massive investments in education, skills-building and expanded opportunities for young people to participate in civic and public policy issues.
We implore the integration of young people into decision-making mechanisms at local, national and international levels, just listening to them is not enough.
We continue to be unfazed in advocating and stopping at nothing to empower and provide opportunities for young people.
Issued by BVTA Information and Publicity Unit
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