The National Planning Commission (NPC) on Tuesday oriented new members of the MW2063 Youth Core Advisory Panel (Youth CAP).
The 15 outstanding young leaders will serve a two-year term and work alongside NPC, the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM), and other stakeholders to drive youth engagement in national development.
The new cohort replaces the first one which was put in place in 2018.
Speaking in an interview, NPC Director General Thomas Munthali said the panel is key in the implementation of the vision, which is youth-centric because of its long-term oriented objectives that critically need sustainability.
“We all know that the Malawi 2063 is youth-centric. We’re talking of over 40 years to meet the vision aspirations in 2063 and some of us may not be there. So it is a vision that the youth themselves should be party to formulation. So the youth must be involved both in prioritizing interventions, whether it’s about making sure that national budgets are talking to the first 10-year implementation plan, whether it is about them being actively involved in accessing resources so that they can actively participate in the development agenda of the nation, whether it is about them, monitoring and evaluating the progress and holding authorities, both state and non-state actors accountable,” he said
He also challenged the new cohort of youths to understand the MW2063 blueprint to ensure the continuity of the vision, unlike the country’s past vision, which failed because it did not include the coming generations.
NYCOM director of programs Williot Lumbe said the selected youth will be representatives of their demographic to ensure that the views and aspirations of the young people of Malawi are being transferred to or being part of the Malawi 2063 implementation.
The Youth CAP was established to ensure that Malawian youth actively contribute their ideas and participate meaningfully in the realization of Malawi 2063.
Through this platform, young leaders will provide strategic advisory support on key development initiatives, including the MW2063 First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) and the Malawi 2063 Youth Engagement Strategy (MW2063-YES).
