Under Inzira Nziza project in different occasions, Never Again Rwanda provides platforms for youth and decision-makers to discuss about critical matters and concerns that affect youth participation in decision-making processes.
With the support of USAID Rwanda, Never Again Rwanda implements Inzira Nziza project in five districts: Huye, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Nyabihu and Ngororero. Inzira Nziza has the objective of supporting youth to express and debate their views on democratic values, take leadership roles in political participation as they effectively promote and protect human rights and celebrate their diversities.
In its one year of experience, Inzira Nziza reached out to more than 400 youth champions and more than 100 local leaders to empower them and encourage them to foster participatory decision-making as a move to amplify young voices from diverse communities in the public decision-making processes.
Some of the platforms used are roundtable discussions and confidence-building session which provide young people with special opportunity to creatively share their critical ideas, perspectives and hopes about democracy, human rights and policy issues affecting them.
In roundtable discussions and confidence building sessions held in Ngororero and Huye Districts in June 2018, youth shared issues that impede them from to participating at local and national decision-making frameworks and fronted good practices that can address many issues affecting their lives.
In various discussions, youth unemployment and human rights issues were cited as the major concerns that create a sense of vulnerability and inadequacy, which can lead to idleness among young people and lack of confidence. To ensure views and priorities of young people are effectively heard and considered in all decision-making processes, young people stressed the urgent need to address issues such as lack of budget to support their initiatives, exclusion from political spaces and policy formulation processes by local leaders. Youth reiterated that they had no opportunities to decide on the policies affecting their lives as their performance contracts are often prepared by leaders and call the youth representatives to simply sign them.
In a roundtable discussion held in Huye on 14 June 2018, Huye district National Youth Council Coordinator, Freddy Muvandimwe, noted that planning for youth policies and performance contracts (imihigo) will be developed based on the needs of young people and give up on the perceived negative trend of only having youth only involved in signing and implementing their imihigo without their inputs.
Mr. Muvandimwe urged youth to always develop action plans with key activities that respond to their needs and priorities because government is looking to increase funds to specifically support youth initiatives: “Youth should have the action plan available to inform decision-makers about their needs and priorities because, from next year, Government will allocate the budget to support youth activities”.
In Nyamagabe, the district National Youth Council Coordinator, Marie Louise Mujawayezu reiterated that the budget to support youth initiatives has increased from 3 to 16 million Rwandans Francs in the 2018/2019 fiscal year budget. “We had a retreat to examine youth activities and a resolution was made to allot 16 million rwfs for young people, especially those with limited opportunities, in a move to build their capacities and change their socio-economic status”.
Despite the generous increase in the budget allocation for youth, the youth highlighted the high rate of taxes that impedes resilience of young entrepreneurs thus young people suggested the exoneration of taxes as a strategy to handle the youth employment challenge. In response, the representative of National youth council Mr. Alexis Ukurikiyeyezu, in a confidence building session in Ngororero District, noted that based on the advocacy efforts, the matter is being put into consideration. Once enacted, that bill will see youth cooperatives exempted from paying taxes in the first of two years of their business, to allow them time to prepare and get acquainted to the market.
Making meaningful and effective youth participation in governance a reality requires the combined effort of local and national level. Inzira Nziza’s contribution is to train youth and leaders to collaboratively work together on issues that youth identified as a priority for them, not what leaders decide without consulting young people.