This year’s Day of the African Child like the last come during a challenging time of the pandemic. In light of the current situation, Councillor Lesego Kwambala says just like the 1976 Soweto revolution, the youth have an obligation to “embrace and champion the new normal.”
“Today more than before humanity at large is threatened by the novel Covid-19 pandemic, as we celebrate this, we (youth of this country) owe it to ourselves to embrace and champion the newnormal.” he encouraged.
Kwambala, who is the National Youth Commissioner for Bala Youth Commission, says it is vital that the Youth lead a revolution against the current challenges. The challenges that the youth are faced with, Kwambala says, need not “song, dance and feasting but putting more focus on constructive dialogue”. He says it is time to reflect on current obstacles facing the youth and coming up with sustainable solutions.
“As we do so, let’s draw great inspiration from the 1976 generation and borrow a combination of their key attributes of βFearlessnessβ, βSelflessnessβ and βDeterminationβ.” he asserted.
This year’s commemoration was held under the theme “30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa Fit for Children.”
The objectives of the day’s commemoration according to the National Youth Commissioner is primarily to;
- Honor and pay homage to hundreds of young heroes and heroines who lost their precious lives in the uprising, fighting equality irrespective of race and creed;
- Honor and appreciate the changes and brighter today that youth enjoy as a result of the sacrifices made by young people on this day in 1976.
- To draw inspiration from the spirit and mindset that waved among the hearts and minds of young people in 1976, enabling them to stand, unite and remain committed to reason.
June 16th commemorates the student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, where students who marched in protest against apartheid-inspired education, were brutally murdered.
