Koboko district set for 2016 Youth Day celebrations

President Yoweri Museveni will be the chief celebrant as St. Charles Lwanga College in Koboko District hosts the International Youth Day on August 12.

Addressing the press at the Media Centre in Kampala, Florence Kiyingi, the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affair, said that Uganda’s youthful population if well-managed presents the best development asset the country can boast of in the coming decades. Seventy eight per cent of Uganda’s population is below 30 years, making the country home to the third youngest global population.

“The World Youth Day is day celebrated every year to take stock of the interventions we have put in place to empower the youth of our country,” Ms Kiyingi said, adding  that all leaders had been encouraged to organize celebrations at the various administration levels.

The theme for this year’s IYD is ‘The road to 2030; Eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable production and consumption’, focused towards Uganda’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).

“It is important for all Ugandans to note that poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Poverty is a manifestation that includes deficiencies in addressing food security, hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making,” Ms Nakiyingi said.

“In addition to making these areas our main focus in the empowerment of youth, Government will focus strongly on the Presidential Guiding Principle 21 on youth development of raising the ideological level of the youth,” Kiyingi emphasized before adding that there are deliberate efforts to invest and promote the creative industry that includes music, dance and drama, sports and games, and the tourism sector.