Issued by the Department of Women, Youth & Persons with Disabilities
Attention: Journalists and News Editors
Pretoria, 26 August 2021
SOUTH AFRICA PARTICIPATES AT IBSA SUMMIT AND BRICS YOUTH SUMMIT
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD)
will participate at the inaugural IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) Youth Summit
from 26-28 August 2021, as well as the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South
Africa) Youth Summit from 29-31 August 2021. Minister in the Presidency for
Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will lead the
DWYPD delegation.
The department is proud to participate in both summits at a time when
global collaboration, information sharing and inter-governmental support and
policy alignment can ensure faster recovery from the retardation of global
economies, as well as improved healthcare response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both areas have had a devastating impact on youth globally, resulting in
uncertain futures, mental strain as a result of drastically reduced
opportunities for work, as well as opportunities to study further.
The recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the period Quarter 2: 2021,
released by Stats SA, shows that youth aged 15-24 years and 25-34 years
recorded the highest unemployment rates of 64,4% and 42,9% respectively.
This is not only a South African trend, but a global one. Therefore,
participation at the IBSA Youth Summit and BRICS Youth Summit will allow for
robust engagement on these challenges facing youth, as well as collaboration
and information sharing on best practises to ensure greater uptake of youth
into the economically active citizenry.
Globally, youth face similar challenges, however, complex socio-economic
backgrounds against different social environments often means that youth feel
alienated and alone in dealing with these challenges.
IBSA is a unique forum which brings together India, Brazil and South
Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different
continents, facing similar challenges. All three partners are developing,
pluralistic, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious
nations. IBSA is a purely South-South grouping of like-minded countries,
committed to inclusive sustainable development, in pursuit of the well-being
for their peoples and those of the developing world. The IBSA Summit is being
hosted by India.
The first IBSA Summit will look at:
• Youth in Governance in the IBSA Region
• Youth Development Programmes in IBSA Region
• Youth Development Index
• Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Youth in IBSA Countries
The department’s delegation will comprise of representatives from the
Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the National Youth
Development Agency (NYDA), Youth in Business South Africa, South African Youth
Council, South African Union of Students, Disabled Youth South Africa, and
Young Women’s Desk.
South Africa is committed to implement policies to improve the lives and
conditions of our youth. To this end, government has approved the National
Youth Policy (NYP) for the period 2020 to 2030, which is a blue print for the
achievement of development for young people.
This Policy is a commitment by all to ensure development of our youth.
It will guide the key players in the youth development space on the key
interventions to be prioritised, namely:
1. Quality Education, Skills and Second Chances;
2. Economic Transformation, Entrepreneurship & Job Creation;
3. Physical and Mental Health Promotion;
4. Social Cohesion and Nation Building; and
5. Effective and Responsive Youth Development Machinery.
The National Youth Development Agency is also developing an Integrated
Youth Development Strategy to give effect to implementation of the policy.
South Africa will also participate at the BRICS Youth Summit. The theme
for this year’s Summit is: BRICS: Youth as a Bridge for Peace and Friendship.
The four BRICS original members are within the world´s top fifteen
economies and South Africa is the second-largest economy in Africa. They span
four continents and, as of 2018, account for about 41.5% of the world’s
population (roughly 3.2 billion people), about 25,7% of the world’s land area
and 23,6 % of the world´s GDP (almost 20 trillion dollars).
South Africa hosted the fifth BRICS Summit on 27 March 2013 in Durban,
eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for
Development, Integration and Industrialisation. In 2018, South Africa hosted
the 4th BRICS Youth Summit which was held from 16 to 19 July 2017 in Limpopo.
On 31 August Minister Nkoana-Mashabane will participate in the BRICS
Ministers responsible for youth Meeting. The official delegation to the meeting
will be led by the Minister.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Mr Shalen Gajadhar (Director: Communications, Department of Women, Youth
and Persons with Disabilities) 060 979 4235