Utuseb youth feel neglected

Living in a marginalised community with limited infrastructure and resources can be challenging, say some young people at Utuseb.

The isolated settlement, situated about 60km from Walvis Bay, falls under the Topnaar Traditional Authority.

The young people say the government has ignored their plight. They made these comments during a two-day community dialogue and advocacy workshop hosted by Rural Rise Community Empowerment over the weekend.

The workshop attracted approximately 50 young people from the community, who refer to themselves as ‘Topnaar Youths’.

They list the main challenges they face as limited access to education, high unemployment, low civic participation and a lack of opportunities.

They said they want to be more involved in local government and policymaking.

Topnaar Youths chairperson Glenn Kasper said they have been excluded from a variety of activities, including the National Youth Council budget allocation. “How can we empower rural youth if we remain excluded?”

Kasper said they have demonstrated their perseverance and work ethic by running various community projects.

“Our story is very critical and pertinent to the concept of understanding what we call marginalised people in Namibia.

So far, only three groups have been recognised as marginalised, but we, too, consider ourselves to be a marginalised community because we are poor and there are no youth development activities in our community.”

Dondon Beukes, a young person from Utuseb, called for more youth development programmes, as well as police stations because crime is becoming more prevalent.

“We always have issues with police stamps, ID copies and codes of conduct.”

Ruben Shikongo, an administrative officer at the Walvis Bay Rural Constituency Office, advised the youth to identify key business activities in the area to approach for funding as part of their social responsibility. He said the youth can benefit from programmes and funding schemes provided by the constituency office.

“These include tertiary registration assistance at the start of each year and a constituency development fund.”

Brand Primary School principal Anna Maldrid Josti said she has been working to support the efforts of the schools at the settlement over the last five years.

“We have been fighting the system for a long time. We have everything in place, it’s just a matter of implementation.”

Rural Rise chief executive Eslien Tsuses said the organisation launched the Rural Youth Network initiative to address the youth’s challenges. According to Tsuses, the network will provide resources, training and opportunities for rural youth to develop skills, participate in the community and contribute to local and national development.

“The network’s goal is to foster a supportive environment in which rural youth can thrive and have their voices heard in decision-making processes.”