National Youth Policy.

This document lays down the National Youth Policy, a document with a multi-sectoral approach whose overall goal is to create an enabling environment for all young people to develop their full potential in order to contribute significantly to personal and sustainable national development. The policy seeks to promote a sense of individual responsibility of the Malawian Youth towards their communities based on the, among others, the following principles and values: a) active involvement of the youth in decision-making and national development programmes and policy debates; b) youth participation and programme implementation in the best interest of the youth; c) non-discrimination based on age, sex, marital status, cultural, religion, ethnicity, disability and other vulnerabilities including HIV status; d) respect for individual human dignity, culture, democracy, human rights and rule of law; e) regard for environment for sustainable national development; f) respect for gender equality and equity of opportunities. The following are identified as priority areas for action: 1) Youth Participation and Leadership; 2) Youth Economic Empowerment; 3) National Youth Service; 4) Education for Youth; 5) Youth in Science, Technology and Environment; 6) Youth and Health and Nutrition; and 7) Social Services, Sports, Recreation and Culture. Chapter 2.6.1 recognizes the rights of the youth, which include right to good health, right to social services, and right to gainful decent employment opportunities. As regards responsibilities of the youth, the document refers to participation in environmental conservation activities.The policy aims to eliminate malnutrition of the youth. Policy area 6 concerns the priorities on Youth and Health and Nutrition. Young people are encouraged to actively participate in the production, processing and utilization of nutritious foods. Furthermore the policy promotes equity in the allocation of food between girls and boys. School feeding programmes in all primary schools are encouraged.The policy seeks to create more and decent employment for the youth both in the formal and informal sectors and in rural (and urban) areas. The actions envisaged shall contribute to the reduction of rural poverty.The policy aims at enabling more inclusive agricultural systems, from the point of view of the youth. Chapter 2.7 recognizes the important role of the adults to assist, promote and protect young women and young men adequate access to land in rural areas. The policy seeks to ensure that the youth are mobilized and motivated to take part in agricultural activities by providing incentives to attract young people to go for agricultural training at all levels of the country’s education system. Further the policy aims at establishing, promoting and supporting agricultural youth clubs and cooperatives linked to the private sector. Incentives shall include also tax exemptions on agricultural tools and machinery, modernization of agriculture, access to productive agricultural land in adequate proportion and other factors of production for the youth who fail to access these resources due to culture, gender or other socio-economic factors.In the field of governance, the policy seeks to establish an enabling environment for Public Private Partnership for youth development including the provision of technical training to youth.