The media should capture stories to do with youths and development, a representative of TheSpace has told journalists attending a workshop organised by the United Nations in Zimbabwe.
TheSpace is a youth led organisation which worked in partnership with UN in conceptualising Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) to young people. They worked with 120 youths (10 from each province) whom they trained in 2016.
It provides young people space for dialogue with UN family, embassies and the policy makers through constructive dialogue. TheSpace convenes annually in September of every year. As an upscale, theSpace has set up an advocacy centre. The advocacy centre is part of theSpace ecosystem. It is a discreet strategic advocacy and communications studio specialising in providing services that amplify organisational voices through convening and conveying the right story to the right audience at the appropriate time.
“Whether you would like to plan and deliver a campaign, write and design your report, convene a conference, organise an event or press launch, the unit is able to develop an entire campaign, run a PR or simply deliver individual elements. In an Nutshell, We Convene and We Campaign,” said Micaiah Chandimhara, TheSpace Programme Officer.
Chandimhara said development is a process that enables human beings to realise their full potential, build self-confidence and lead lives of dignity and fulfilment which frees people from fear of want and exploitation, with a move towards a more decent, sustainable standard of living for people and planet, that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and that looks to balance different and often competing needs against an awareness of the environmental, social, political and economic limitations.
“Why are we saying the media should focus more on development and the young people? According to available statistics, 1.8 billion young people aged 10-24 are living today – largest in history, 90% of the world’s young people live in developing countries, 500+ million young people aged 15-24 live on less than $2 a day and Approximately 74 million unemployed, and more than 600 million jobs are needed by 2030. In Zimbabwe the youths constitute 67,7% of the population whereas in Africa they stand at 77% and globally 16%.
In other words, young people are key in attaining the Agenda 2030 since they are the economically active group. In attaining SDGs, young people can play a pivotal role in mobilising for innovations, awareness raising, advocate for SDGs and capacitate themselves with skills to remain relevant,” Chandimhara said.
He said attaining or properly implementing the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) will result in financial stability in the country and help in attaining all the SDGS since access to services will have been improved by giving young people the buying power.
“I have observed that media often gives updates during disasters and turn their back afterwards without covering the resilience efforts after disasters. The media often dwells more on the negative stories while giving a blind eye to positive stories. There is need to publish connection stories during disasters to help connect the readers to the situation. More so, reporters should take a developmental avenue in their reports during and after disasters,” Chandimhara added.