171. National Youth Policy, 2009

The vision of the government of Eswatini according to the Transformation Policy Statement of 2004 is to build a 21st Century kingdom of Swaziland (Eswatini), culturally united, integrated and stable, economically prosperous and socially well organised with equal opportunities for all irrespective of gender and responsibility for all. The Ministry of Sport, Culture and Youth Affairs has the vision to be leaders in excellency in the promotion of sports, arts and culture for youth empowerment and improving the quality of lives of the citizens by the year 2013. Furthermore the Department of Youth Affairs has the vision of an enabling environment for young people to actively participate and contribute to the transformation and socio-economic development and good governance process that shape the present and future destiny of the communities in which they live. This policy was developed following an assessment of the National Youth Council in 2003, and in line with the national vision, this policy seeks to achieve the purpose of providing a common and mutual understanding on the importance and areas of youth development among all concerned groups and individuals in the country and to set the guidelines to address youth related issues through a cross-sectoral and integrated approach. The overall goal of the policy is to create and ensure an enabling environment for developing youth to their full potential, socially, mentally, physically, culturally and spiritually, by providing training and economic empowerment to further the aims of sustainable human development. The policy strives for four major objectives, including; to provide an enabling environment for the youths development so as to enhance sustainable development by ensuring that young people have access to adequate and appropriate programmes and services regardless of their geographic location, race, gender, level of disability and social, religious and economic circumstances; to recognize and promote the participation and contribution of youth in the development of the country by involving them in planning, decision making and implementation levels of all youth and development programmes; to enable youth to initiate actions which promote their own development and that of their communities by fostering creativity and innovation amongst young women and men which promotes initiative and independence, instead of dependency and entitlement; and to develop an effective, coordinated and holistic response to the issues facing youth by building the capacity of youth development organizations and any other departments or institutions involved with youth affairs to effectively design, implement, manage and monitor youth development programmes and services. The underlying principles of the policy include gender inclusivity, to redress imbalances, to create a youth empowering environment, to enhance youth participation, to promote sustainable development, to emphasize on rural youths, ensure transparency, etc. The policy provides and framework for youth development across the country and sets guidelines for the implementation of youth related programmes as well as ensuring sufficient investment by the government and other stakeholders in youth related matters through provision of prudent investment procedures and implementation guidelines. The policy identifies certain priority groups in addressing the imbalances imposed by cultural and traditional practices, policies and legislation, particularly vulnerable young people. The key players in the implementation of the policy include general youth, youth leaders, media personnel, parliamentary youth portfolio committee, NGOs, traditional leaders, constituency leaders, among others. The policy identifies a number of challenges affecting the youth in the country, including a lack of criteria for defining youth, health pandemics like HIV/AIDS, drug and substance abuse, education, training and skills development, sexual reproductive health, participation, partnership and leadership, peace, security and law enforcement, environment and sustainability, among others. The policy makes a detailed address of these issues.