The Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Development Hon. Pitso Lesaoana underscored the importance of partnerships in revitalizing Youth Resource Centres (YRCs) into safe, inclusive and digitally enabled spaces for young people.
Speaking at the opening of a four-day workshop on YRC revitalization, Hon. Lesaoana said that the initiative supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency demonstrates the value of working with partners to improve services available to young people.He expressed hope that the workshop would result in a prototype of an ideal YRC that can respond effectively to the needs of young people, particularlythose in hard-to-reach districts.
Speaking at the same occasion, UNFPA Representative Mr. John Kennedy Mosoti stressed the need to ensure that young people including those in rural areas and young people with disabilities are reached with essential information and skills.“We must reach at least 50,000 young people with life-saving information and at least 10,000 young people with skills always ensuring inclusion of rural boys and girls and young people with disabilities,” he said.
Mr Mosoti also mentioned that the revitalization of YRCs presents an opportunity to strengthen platforms through which young people can access information and services that contribute to their wellbeing and development.
The workshop brought together staff from the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Development to explore ways of transforming YRCs into digitally enabled hubs where young people can access Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) information and various youth development opportunities.
The revitalization programme is anchored on four pillars, namely economic empowerment, youth creativity, advocacy, and the provision of safe, youth-friendly and inclusive services.
The four-day workshop is expected to contribute towards the development of a model YRC that is digitally enabled, safe, youth-friendly and inclusive.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of Lesotho.
