Focus turned to harnessing the demographic dividend for development in Lesotho 

Maseru

Under the theme “Harnessing the demographic dividend in Lesotho – youth inclusion factor” the Youth Dialogue Initiative (YDI) and UNESCO commemorated the International Youth Day with some of the youth representation and members of parliament in Maseru this Tuesday.

Mope Khati, a young member of parliament, shared the difficulties of being a young parliamentarian and the obstacles they face to bring about change. 

He expressed that Lesotho is currently in an era where it cannot afford to see the youth effecting change to change the scope of its development in all aspects, especially economically. 

“Many countries have turned around their economic statuses during the period when they had a demographic dividend, like we do in the country. This is a period where our population has a lot of young and energetic people. We therefore have to harness this and take advantage,” said Khati. 

As part of the organising committee, Tumelo Moteuli of the YDI expressed his disappointment to some of the expected guests, who he said had hoped that their presence would benefit the youth in different ways. 

He said one of the objectives of the summit was to enlighten the youth on the basic issues that affect them, which are discussed to effect change in their lives, including the breakdown of the lingo used in the parliament. 

He indicated that his belief is that Basotho youth will show more interest in issues that affect them once they are enlightened and understand clearly what is discussed.

“We hope to be part of the enforcers of seeing that the SDGs are met. We are the source of change; the better the production and development of the youth in the country, the better the development of the country. I had hoped to have some of the representations from some organisations and more members of the parliament in these deliberations,” Moteuli uttered.

“Due to unemployment, which is reigning in the country, a lot of young people tend to seek answers from the use of drugs or even resort to crime to make ends meet. However, this can be solved by clarifying to the youth that there are open platforms for them, which could help them be independent without waiting to be employed by the government, which a lot of young people have pinned their hopes on,” he added.

In the deliberations, Molefi Ntšonyane hammered and emphasised ways that the youth can tackle unemployment, which is at an alarming rate in Lesotho.

“We tend to complain about not seeing results from the government and those in leadership whereas there is such a low number of us that even vote to help effect who gets to sit in those seats of leadership,” Ntšonyane said, adding that these are the very people that hate politics, stripping themselves off their right to vote and be part of the change makers. 

A member of parliament, the Chair of Chairs and leader of the Education, Youth and Health Cluster Committee, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, quoted that studies reveal that 65 per cent of the African continent’s population is the youth. 

He said in Lesotho, the current studies found that 48.9 percent of the population of Basotho is the youth. 

“In this youth, 38 percent form the working class while 24 percent is unemployed. The youth need a mind-shift influence to make them aware that the change relies on them. The spirit of patriotism will help them be effective in making changes. We need more representation of the youth in parliament, if they appear in numbers, probably they will help pass bills that really speak for their interests rather than having them discussed and passed by those that are not of their class,” Makhalanyane said.

He expressed how impressed he was by the ideas he heard from young people in the country and their zeal to add value and help in the development of the country. 

“Some of the young people have shared their perspectives that they are hoping to see a Lesotho where the minister of youth is someone young, befitting by merit of age and leadership attributes. They said in the same ministry they hope to see the Principal Secretary as a young person who will have to leave office as soon as they exit the young class age,” he remarked.