The Youth Leadership Pledge

The Following is a pledge made by Young Zimbabwean leaders at the National Young Leadership Summit organised by Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), with such commitment made by the young leaders the future of Zimbabwe is assuredly in safe hands.

We the undersigned,

Recognising that the call to leadership is a call to service for young people everywhere to take responsibility both in private and public life, and

Realising the impact which the youth have due to the Power of their numbers, unparalleled energy and capability to evolve as continuously learning individuals,

Alive to the fact that effective leadership is needed most in the small spaces of our families, community-based organisations but, also, largely at national and international levels,

Convinced that this leadership is beyond mere positions, but a commitment to act on issues affecting us daily,

Having met in Harare from the 11^th to the 13^th of July 2012 at the Young Leaders Summit and deliberated on the Leadership state of affairs nationally in many facets of our lives as young people, including, but not limited to, the sectors of religion, arts, culture, politics, sport, business, government, civil society and the young women’s movement,

Particularly for the purpose of rethinking what leadership means and defining the concept to meet the needs of our people,

Celebrating through intergenerational mentorship, the richness and gains of the experiences of leaders who have come before us,

We hereby pledge the highest act of service to our country through providing leadership on the following critical questions of our time;

·        Lack of employment opportunities and access to economic empowerment alternatives;

·        Poor service delivery spanning over essential services such as health, water & sanitation, transport, energy and education among other key services for well being, and for preparing our fellow youth for the future;

·        Political instability and political systems that are intolerant and exploit youth, while offering them little avenues for meaningful participation and decision making opportunities;

·        The growing gap between a few rich and an ever increasing population of people wallowing in poverty, feeding crime and hopelessness among the youth;

·        A society of great inequalities manifesting across gender, age and, a society that also excludes people with disabilities and marginalised geographic areas;

·        Lack of financial and political support for young people in arts, sport and culture both as a pastime and as a way of living;

·        Alarming rates of violence that predispose people, especially women, to Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights challenges, including HIV/AIDS;

·        Destruction of the environment for economic reasons and wanton destruction due to lack of energy alternatives and failure to cope with growing environmental crises of overpopulation;

·        Shrinking opportunities and continued deprivation of the girl child and failure to recognise her agency;

·        Poor access to information in a country where capabilities of ICTs and other forms of media remain hampered by cost, policy and infrastructure despite the potential of using these tools for development;

·        Lack of transparency, accountability and high levels of corruption by mandated leaders in society;

Against this background of pressing societal development questions,

We, the youth of Zimbabwe, pledge and commit to principled, ethical, people centred and God-fearing leadership regardless of our position in the society to make our country a better place.