So many youth empowerment programs are launched over time because finally, people came to know, the Importance of Youth Empowerment, which gives rise to a strengthened nation. A society will be secure enough when your youth is empowered because an empowered youth will never give any harm to the society in which they are living.
Youth empowerment creates a sense of responsibility and leadership skills in our youth due to which they can feel and identify the actual practical problems of the society from which many people are suffering.
They no more wait for the high authorities to come and sort out the problem instead they take some practical steps to solve the problem on their own.
AN empowered youth is always passionate and dedicated to their work and their society and they always dare to do something big for the betterment of society.
What is Youth Empowerment?
Youth empowerment can be defined as a process where people gain the ability and authority to make informed decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people. It is a means of encouraging youths to do great things for themselves and also to make a great impact on their society.
As youths, you are at the center of absolute strength. You think big, hope for the best, and envision a better tomorrow, therefore making continuous efforts to turn your dreams into reality. According to the global organization (UN) reports, Nigerian youth migrants in Europe and America are three times more than migrants from other west -African countries. This report also added that the migration rate of the youth was 32 percent in 1999, compared to less than 15 percent for the non-youth population. It was estimated that by the end of 2012, over 50 percent of the youths in Nigeria will be residing in foreign countries where job opportunities are easier to come by.
Importance of Youth Empowerment
1. Poverty Eradication
Youth empowerment can curb the rate of poverty to a large level. One of the keys to empowering the youth is skill development. When a youth is equipped with essential skills, he or she can utilize them to feed, assist others, and even invest for future use, aiding the nation economically. This will in turn contribute to the increase in employability and add to the GDP of the nation.
2. Improved Standard of Education
Empowerment can help youth to understand the importance of education that leads to the social improvement of the country. The empowered youths can donate educational facilities to primary, secondary, and even tertiary institutions. Empowering the youths academically accelerates the spirit of patriotism in the education sector. The empowered youths know the importance of education. This is why many individuals issue scholarships to the students because they understand the value of education due to the empowerment, which was given to them academically. Education exposes people to know what they did not know before.
3. Good Governance
When the youths are empowered, they empower the masses, thereby paving the path for a better future. To build a better tomorrow, we need to nurture the youths of today.
4. Crime reduction and National Security
Empowerment ensures that youth has the necessary skill to sustain a livelihood, preventing them to adopt the path of crime.
5. Employment Creation
This is another importance of youth empowerment. A youth empowered society will not seriously suffer from the problem of unemployment that many nations are battling at the current time. A skillful youth is a job creator.
Role of NGOs
Several NGOs have taken up youth empowerment as their core cause. These NGOs provide training, guidance, and job opportunities to youth depending on their respective interests. But, there are other NGOs that indirectly influence youth empowerment, and the Citizens’ Health Education & Development Initiative (CHEDI) is one among them. Before I tell you more about it, it is important to understand that empowerment is a nutshell of developing health, positivity, self-control, communication skills, intellectual skills, decision-making skills, a moral outlook, life coping skills, and pro-social connectedness.
Being a mid-day meal NGO and serving school lunch to children, CHEDI was established as a reaction to observations made bordering on inadequate information on preventive healthcare, especially on Communicable Diseases like Malaria, HIV/AIDS transmission and spread, Sexually transmitted infections, Non-communicable Diseases like (cancer, hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition). Family Health (Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health plus Nutrition under-fives and Family Planning). Our main focus, therefore, is on maternal newborns, youths, and vulnerable citizens in Nigeria. We are committed to increasing access to healthy living for the citizenry through advocacy/sensitization for awareness creation, and capacity building for skill acquisition. We are as well partner/collaborate with other NGOs with similar objectives.