At the center of the SADC Youth Parliament, there are Mentors. The mentors play a very important role in the development of young leaders in SADC, including sharing best practices drawn from their experiences, and best models on practical youth empowerment.
The SADC Youth Parliament Mentors will serve as advisors for the young parliamentarians, nurture them, give guidance in their leadership journey, be the referral agent, be councilors, and motivate the young leaders to be transformative leaders at national, regional, and international levels. The Mentors will act as a liaison to the mentees on various leadership and developmental issues of mutual interest.
Some of the Objectives of the SADC Youth Parliament Mentorship Program aim to:
- Engage and inspire young leaders in the SADC Youth Parliament to use their knowledge and experience to enhance national, and regional development.
- Assist parliamentarians to enhance their leadership capacity, to respond to various policy issues at the national, regional, and international levels, further improving their knowledge, reaching their full potential, and keeping them motivated.
- Create regional networks of youth leaders that are supported by experienced individuals among others.
- Provide guidance and support to youth parliamentarians.
- Facilitate dialogue and cross-pollinate ideas between them, while enabling an ambiance of open communication.
- Initiate discussions, and programs for the development of mentees
Statement Announcement of Mentors
Author: SAYoF Africa
https://sayof.org The Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) is a regional development platform for youth in the SADC region (16 member countries), and works with SADC Secretariat, SADC-PF, SADC-CNGO, African Union Youth Division, national governments, and SAT among other regional organizations to empower young people and ensure sustainable inclusion in developmental processes. SAYoF is the official convener of the SADC Youth Forum the largest youth gathering in Southern Africa convened before the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit to co-create solutions for youth and ensure regional and national development that is youth-centered. SAYoF is the convener of SADC Youth Parliament a regional policy advocacy, engagement arm, and leadership mentorship flagship program for SAYoF which have Members of Parliament from across 16 Member countries. SAYoF sits in the Global Coalition for Youth, Peace, and Security, a UN-CSOs partnership to advance youth for peace, SAYoF sits in the Dengue Advisory Group an international committee to fight Dengue a Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and was appointed by Africa Union (AU) to be part of the Africa Youth Front on Covid-19 a high-level policy and advocacy framework by the Africa Union (AU) Youth Envoy for young people to co-lead Africa’s response to Covid-19. SAYoF is a Co-Convener for African Youth Commission on AfCFTA and represents Africa in the CPDE Youth Sector.
