While some councillors are committed and willing to effectively carryout their mandate, many of them have limited skills and experience on the steps and stages they need to go through to be able to execute their duties excellently. Some councillors are not aware of the youth potential, hence they constantly ignore what is said by the youths thinking they are immature and less experienced.
It was against this background that the Community Youth Development Trust (CYDT) carried-out activities across the project areas that were designed to strengthen and improve the capacity of the local authorities. It was through these meetings that the RDC authorities such as WADCOs and VIDCs got to understand why they exist in the first place and why it was important that they normalise engaging marginalised groups like the rural youths in decision making.
The idea was that creating spaces for engagement between the youths and RDC officials, there will be improved relations and communications between the youths and councilors at rural level, they will become more efficient and skilled when addressing the needs faced by rural people especially the youth as well as position them to be responsive when the people they serve demand accountability. These meetings were also done to strengthen the capacities of RDCs as well as improve their relations with the communities.
The organisation was pleased by the fact that some activities implemented in the last quarter of the year 2023 featured councillors that were elected in the August polls who positively engaged rural youths from areas like Gwanda and Beitbridge.
The councillors managed to listen to the concerns of the rural youths which included the need to drill more boreholes as water challenges were affecting their health as well as the need to rehabilitate their delapidated roads.
The fact that some councilors were able to engage youths at rural level was something that the organisation cherished considering that the exclusion of youths in decision making has been a major problem across Matabeleland South for decades.
It is imperative that the RDC staff and management continue prioritising and improving youth stakeholder participationwhich is crucial for better service delivery to be realised across Matabeleland South.
ENDS.
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