Youth

CAPE MOUNT – The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) recently launched a youth center in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, Western Liberia.

MONROVIA – Youth and Sports Minister, Etmonia David Tarpeh, has reiterated her ministry’s commitment to engaging the youth in constructive endeavors and helping to provide opportunities for their participation in nation building.

Over the past 10 years that I have been actively involved in advocacy for youth participation in the country’s decision-making processes as a benchmark for sustainable development, it’s been said that “youth are the future leaders.”

The term ‘nation building’ is usually used to refer to the constructive process of engaging all citizens in building social unity, economic prosperity and political stability in an inclusive and democratic way.

A nation is built out of the human intellect. This means that a nation cannot be built without the recognition and the collective efforts of all citizens, skilled and unskilled, young and old.

We have often heard of countries with limited mineral resources developing at a speedy rate. This is usually attributed to the fact that such countries have developed a mechanism for making maximum use of its people and labor force, thus making its human resource its most precious and priceless resource.

Nation building is a process. Its benefits are never rewarded to the present generation of builders, but to its future inhabitants.

There is no other resource that matches the human being because mankind is the foundation or the corner stone of every civilization.

Young people are a crucial segment of a nation’s development. Their contribution, therefore, is highly needed. Young people are social actors of change; and as the saying goes, “The youth are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but also the partners of today.”

However, one may wonder whether the Liberian youths and young intellectuals are really partners of today.