This side event, organized by the Salesian Missions in collaboration with the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, on 15th February, and co-sponsored by several other civil society organizations, had over 84 participants from across the continents.
The event commenced with welcome words from Thomas Pallithanam, the Salesian Representative at the UN ECOSOC. He pointed out how the Priority Theme of the 60th Session of the Commission for Social Development and its Review theme: “World Program of Action for Youth 1995” which prioritizes education, employment, eradication of poverty and hunger and the aspirations of the young as expressed in Our Future Agenda were all in sync with the core concerns of Salesians as they accompany the young in the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 era.
H.E. Philip Ochen Odida, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Uganda to the UN, highlighted the efforts of the Ugandan government in providing skilling for employment to the young as an important step for recovery from Covid 19.
Dr. Elisenda Estruch-Puertas, Specialist on Rural Economy and related sectors, Sectoral Policies Department, ILO; Mr. Rodrigo Mota, World Food Programme Youth Network Enabler; Mr. Roland Strux, Head of the Programs and Project Team and Don Bosco Mondo were the other experts on the panel.
Roland Stux provided an overview of the efforts “Don Bosco Mondo” is making to fund and support the programs for youth across continents. He said that while it funds only projects from the Don Bosco Network he opined that this has brought greater accountability, efficiency and sustainability to the programs DBM supports.
The most important part of the event was the presentation of good practices from the ground. Fr. Jose Padinjareparampil, Don Bosco, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, elaborated on how the refugee camp empowers the young through its skill development program which ensures that the youth in the camp and around the camp are gainfully employed or are trained to become entrepreneurs.
Ms. Wambui Ngige, Human Rights Attorney, High Court, Kenya and Project Coordinator of “Teenseed”, spoke from a different perspective. She spoke of the problems facing young girls who were being sexually exploited during the time of Covid-19 and how her organization is empowering the girls to stand up for their rights and bring the perpetrators to justice. In the process, she said that they are also enabled to find the necessary skills to support their lives and secure their future.
As mentioned earlier Mr. Yilbel José Acosta Parra, Red America Social Salesiana provided the third good practice from the ground. He was ably supported by Lina Varon and Carolina Sanchez, from RASS.
Anita Thomas, chair of the NGO Committee on Financing For Development, the moderator of the event had in the opening remarks drawn the attention of all the participants to the growing rate of unemployment and lack of access to education to millions of children and youth. She concluded by saying that the examples from the ground and the sharing by the experts proved beyond doubt that investing on youth human capital is the pathway to an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery from Covid-19.
Fr Thomas Pallithanam, SDB
