Youth Dialogue on Europe Day : The Visions for Lesotho’s Future
The Visions for Lesotho’s Future: Youth Dialogue on Europe Day event brought together students and policymakers in engaging conversations and debates focused around issues that Lesotho’s youth face.
The French Embassy in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi in partnership with Transform Lesotho Initiative, She-Hive Youth Club and the National University of Lesotho have worked together to create a platform for expression and discussion, not only to shed a light on the struggles faced by the youth but also to engage collectively and ensure that the voices and visions of the youth are heard.
The event took place on 9 May, which also marks Europe day, at the National University of Lesotho – a national hub where students are daily shaping their futures, and thus the perfect place to have discussions on the future of the Basotho Youth and the country at large.
Civil society actors like She-Hive Youth, Transform Lesotho Initiative and other youth-led groups from across the country played a vital role in engaging the youth in conversations amongst themselves and with the private sector, policymakers and experts in attendance. Focusing on topics such as youth involvement in decision-making, youth unemployment, economic opportunities, mental health, and substance abuse, this dialogue. It was a platform to share and highlight ideas and visions to advance a just, inclusive and sustainable future for Lesotho.
For the French Embassy as well as the European Union Delegation, the discussions were most important to inform our understanding of current governance dynamics and social, environmental and economic issues in Lesotho, and to better engage with the youth.
With the average age of a population in 2020 in Lesotho was 21.9 years, which seems much younger than the average age of the politicians in the country, this visioning exercise and dialogue was important to understand the youth’s issues and create a space where they can weigh in on them.
Hoping that the discussions held during this stimulating dialogue will carry on, the French Embassy wishes to maintain an open dialogue with Basotho partners alongside its European colleagues, as a building-block work together on common issues shared by our countries.
