WINDHOEK, May 26– Namibia on Tuesday launched a capacity-building program to support the development of its National Action Plan (NAP) on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS), as the southern African country seeks to strengthen youth participation in governance, peacebuilding and security-related decision-making.
The launch event in Windhoek brought together representatives from the African Union (AU), government institutions and civil society organizations to begin consultations and capacity-building activities aimed at developing a national framework for youth inclusion in peace and security processes.
Speaking at the event, Namibia’s Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, said young people should be placed at the center of the country’s peace and security agenda through greater investment in education, mentorship and meaningful participation in public affairs.
“Approximately 37 percent of Namibia’s population is under the age of 15, which is a central fact around which everything we do in governance, education, economic planning, and peace and security must be organized,” she said.
Steenkamp described the planned NAP on YPS as a long-term structural initiative rather than an additional policy framework, emphasizing that young people should be viewed as key contributors to national development and stability.
“Youth must be seen not as a problem to be managed, but as a generation essential to Namibia’s future,” she said. Patience Masua, executive chairperson of the National Youth Council of Namibia, said the initiative seeks to transform young people from passive beneficiaries of security policies into active participants in shaping national strategies.
“The outputs of this program are the first building blocks of a national plan that must eventually be financed, implemented and sustained,” Masua said. The Youth, Peace and Security agenda is guided by the AU’s Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security and seeks to promote the meaningful participation of young people in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and governance processes across Africa. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
