Lupane Youth Council

The Local Youth Councils Initiative, is an initiative of the National Youth Development Trust which seeks to establish youth councils throughout Zimbabwe. These local youth councils shall exist to represent the views of young people at a local level through giving young people the opportunity to have a voice, to discuss relevant issues, engage with decision-makers and contribute to improving the lives of young people within their communities.

The Local Youth councils are meant to bring democracy to where young people live, they are meant to bring development opportunities to where young people live and it is hoped that this will play a major role in reversing the legacy of marginalisation suffered by our young people.
Through the delivery of their functions and work programmes, these Local Youth Councils shall seek to champion the well-being, rights and participation of young people by:

I. Supporting the development of effective youth policies at local governance levels

II. Facilitating meaningful collaboration between youth organisations and all sectors with a responsibility for young people.

III. Providing opportunities for young people and elected representatives to meet and discuss issues of concern to young people.

IV. Representing young people’s views to decision-makers  through Youth Policy Position Papers

These Local Youth Councils shall be run by young people for young people so that they can get their voices heard in the decisions that are being made in their neighbourhoods. They shall enable young people to have real influence over their own lives and within their own communities.
These youth councillors are meant to complement the work of the main councillors and not to compete or replace them. They shall exist solely for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the main councillors in particular and the local authorities in general, the concerns of young people at a local level. It is the expectation of the NYDT that rather than allienating them, the main councillors will be there to mentor them.

To date two of these initiatives have formed that is the Bulawayo Youth Council and Lupane Youth Council