Durban – The BRICS Youth Summit young delegates had a discussion around the importance for the BRICS block to address issues of self-harm among young people.
Day three of the BRICS Youth Summit concluded with the youth delegates breaking up into commissions to discuss the issues that were deliberated on during the summit.
The delegates discussed various topics, including:
- Transforming education and skills development for the future.
- Strengthening post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and the attainment of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
- Developing a partnership towards an equitable Just Transition.
- Unlocking opportunities through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
- Strengthening multilateralism, including working towards the real reform of global institutions, and strengthening the meaningful participation of young people through the BRICS Youth Council.
- Focus on mental health, issues of self-harm, which pose a huge problem among South African adolescents.
- Young people should be empowered with tools to deal with these challenges.
- Interventions, particularly leveraging of digital technology, that would be developed to help young people have easy access to mental health services, using their handsets to acquire such help.
- The issue of food security for communities that are facing poverty. South Africa said that it could learn food production technologies from its BRICS partners.
- Trade deals that exist between the countries of the world, to trade in commodities such as grain, citrus fruits and others could help the country realise its role in the partnership.
- The formation of the BRICS Youth Council to be used as a tool to address issues that affect the youth, and ensure them a future with possibilities.
- Partners from Russia spoke about certain grants that they had as start-ups for business opportunities.
- Creative economies within the BRICS countries; policies that would shape the growth and development of economic aspects could be used as tools to look at the challenges that the youth may encounter in their futures.
- The issues of funding for youth upliftment and development by the BRICS bank was also discussed.
- Participants highlighted the importance of economic development of the youth of South Africa, so that they were empowered with the establishment of small businesses, and other SMMEs.
- The energy mix, particularly looking at the prospects of green energy, was also explored as the future of energy sources that the world is exploring. These were explored as alternatives to the emissions that are caused by the usage of coal as an energy source.
- The delegates said that the Higher Education Department could partner with the youth to assist them in training for the skills that they urgently require, in order for them to ensure the future growth and development of the country.
- How other BRICS countries have been able to make inroads in the economic development zones, showing that South Africa could make these its tools to achieve and become a full partner in these aspects of economic growth within the BRICS family.
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