Webinar Commemorates International Youth Day

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UKZN, in collaboration with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), hosted a webinar to commemorate International Youth Day.

The event featured guest speaker Deputy Minister of DIRCO Mr Alvin Botes and was themed: Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.

Welcoming everyone, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Humanities Professor Nhlanhla Mkhize said UKZN was proud to partner with DIRCO in an initiative to improve the livelihood of people. Commenting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Africa and the world, he said there was a clear need to establish a programme that would increase social support and protect people in the UKZN community who were from poor and vulnerable households.

Mkhize spoke on the efforts of UKZN’s Hardship Fund to address the issues of food insecurity and menstrual hygiene needs for students and staff.

‘UKZN is an Institution that cares about our societies, communities and the world we live in. To this end we engage with a range of stakeholders locally and internationally to pursue projects and interventions from a research and learning position to improve the lives of everyone. These partnerships endorse our objective to contribute meaningfully to the world we are part of and make a tangible contribution to the knowledge economy.’

Referring to the youth as the singular hope of the nation, Botes described the webinar as an opportunity to exchange views between those in the public and private sectors.

He listed the United Nations global priorities of tackling climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict and migration as important issues that affect the youth. ‘The challenges of the youth of today will be the challenges of the youth of tomorrow, unless deeper partnerships are established with them, so they can ensure that the building blocks of the future are non-negotiable.’

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Professor Albert Modi highlighted UKZN’s Food Security Programme which is aimed at curbing hunger among students on its campuses. Noting the low percentage that agriculture contributes to the worldwide economy, Modi discouraged rural migration in search of a better a life, instead encouraging individuals to return to indigenous knowledge systems and subsistence farming to reduce poverty.

UKZN alumnus Ms Dimpho Masekho explored how the global food system was failing both the rich and the poor by not providing the nutritional value required to curb deaths linked to obesity and starvation. She commented on how commercial farming was not practical for someone with no land, no connections and no capital and listed subsistence and integrated farming methods as innovative ways of alleviating the cycle of unemployment and poverty among the youth.

Durban Branch Manager for the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Ms Nompumelelo Zuma said her office had been inundated with requests for funding from youth who had not worked for years and looked to the NYDA as their last resort. Highlighting the importance of various government departments coming together to solve the issue of youth unemployment in South Africa, she urged the Department of Education to start introducing entrepreneurial programmes as early as Grade 4 to condition the youth from a young age for roles as business owners rather than job seekers.

Ms Gabrielle Faber, a youth activist and student at Wits University, commented on the large divide between the privileged and underprivileged in the country and explained how COVID-19 and the civil unrest is an opportunity for the country to change for the better and build for the future.

Faber said a sustainable future was possible only if those in power developed a society that wanted to be empowered and not one dependent on hand outs.

Words: Hlengiwe Khwela

Image: Shutterstock