NYDT’s position on introduction of National Youth Service from crèche..continued

The use of such a program to further partisan interests and lack of consultation on the nature and form of the training programme is a direct insult to democratic principles. Citizenship involves the right to be treated by fellow human beings as equals, with respect to the making of collective choices and the obligation of those implementing such choices to be equally accountable and accessible to all members of the country including youths and children.
As NYDT, we therefore call upon all Zimbabwean youths to reject the current proposals by the ministry of Youth, Indigenization and Empowerment and call upon the Ministry, the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe and all stakeholders to convene a National Dialogue on the issue as a way of finding lasting solutions to the challenges faced by the programme. In convening the National Dialogue, Article 15 of the Global Political Agreement, which states that the parties need to work on a program that inculcates values of patriotism, non-violence, democracy, equality, respect etc, must be the guiding framework.
The Government should be the custodian of the National Dialogue process and as an organization we envisage that the process should recommend that the ministry must,
• Reform its structures and make them more democratic and inclusive
• consult youths and stakeholders on such and other programs,
• develop and make accessible the training materials of the NYS program,
• make the NYS program voluntary and in line with other regional and international best practices,
• purge the NYS program of all partisan machinations and professionalize it,
• ensure that the NYS centres are safe, clean and befitting for human habitation,
• train youths on civilian rather than military skills to enhance their employability rather than usage as drivers of political violence.
NYDT continues to envision an empowered breed of youths in control of their destiny and that of Zimbabwe and shall continue to mobilize the youths and work with stakeholders for the realization of this cause