SAFE CIVIC SPACES FOR YOUTHS
As a
world, we are bound to draw attention to a well thought fundamental collection
of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.
"safe
spaces for youth" should be a mantra even though it carries sheer talk in most
countries that have direly mastered the divisive art of deprivation of the
youths' right to safe spaces which include public, civic, physical and digital spaces.
More emphatically to note is that having youth in a country is no reason to
celebrate them but rather having the will to give the youth safe spaces. Lest,
let the civic society carryout pro-youth campaigns, the nonviolent crusades
that brand the quest to quench the thirst birthed by the deficiency of safe
spaces and the uncertainty immersing the safe spaces platforms.
The
consideration of youths gives the countries where peace, economic dynamism, social
justice and tolerance for the youth has not been prioritized to indemnify the
youth through services that realise the young power thus tapping the youthful
scope of today and the future. To state reiteratively, young people need
education, decent jobs, a voice that makes known their lead, stepping up our
work with and for youths. As we thrive to make the world safe for the youth, we
make it better for all.
According
to the UN Secretary General's envoy on youth Jayathma wickramanayake "the
world's young people need safe spaces where they can freely express their views
and pursue their dreams in public, civic, physical and digital spaces. Today
more than 400 million young people live in areas infested with armed conflict
or organised violence. Millions more face deprivation, abuse, harassment, bullying
and other infringements of their rights". Following the package in parenthesis,
for the youth to actualise their dreams, as a generation, we need to conform to
the realisation that there is an indubitably diverse set of safe spaces for
youths to exploit and overwhelm the current deficiencies in agriculture, enterprise,
governance and in the job market.
Being
the biggest composition of global numeric head count, the youth need to come
together, engage in undertakings related to the basket of their interests. Hence
coming to a common virtual ideological symposium that is symptomatic of
decision making ideals and speech freedoms with dignity and safety of youth as
an inalienable rationale. Civic spaces enable the youth an arena of sports and
other leisure activities in the community.
Digital
spaces enable the trans-border virtual interaction that stimulates the
permeability of the different layers of customs to the wealth of norms permitting
integral cerebral diversity especially of the seemingly rigid systemic mindsets
on economy, politics, democracy, religion and other disciplines to which we owe
followership. Nonetheless, in the layman's dialect, the digital space has been
brutally taxed. Physical spaces, if well thought, can help inhabit and
structure the needs of diverse youth especially those vulnerable to
marginalization or violence in the citadels of public shelters.
Emphasizing
the inclusiveness of safe spaces, youth owing their beliefs to uncommon
backgrounds, more specifically extra-local community, need assurance of respect
and self-worth. In communities carrying the genes of conflict and humanitarian
sabotage, the youth cannot fully express themselves. Similarly, with a DNA of
unsafe spaces, youth from differing ethnicities, races feel intimidated to
freely make a societal contribution on development, peace and social cohesion.
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) reiterates the need for youths' public spaces to
enable them to interact with family and have constructive intergenerational dialogue.
As
Africa in a race to sustainable Development, she needs to give the mantle to
the custodians of the future. Let us prioritise safe spaces as an essential to
psychological, cognitive and physical development. As the count of youth grows geometrically
in affiliation to a technology magnetized world, they aspire to polish their
minds in deeper political, social and civic matters and the availability and
accessibility of safe spaces becomes more crucial to make this a reality.
By
KANSIIME ONESMUS
Comments
Post a Comment