Nsanje District Council has set up guidelines that will see youth participation and empowerment in local governance structure.

According to the document, signed by the district commissioner Reinghard Chavula and chairperson for the council Mabvuto Kamba, 60 percent of the population in the district are the youth hence the need to engage them in decision making process.

The council believes that the guidelines will go in a long way in ensuring that the youth are participating in all development system so that their views, needs and aspiration are also taken on board to address challenges they face.

In addition, it will also help to ensure that young people are not left behind in implementation of various interventions in Key priority areas as highlighted in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 3.

This means that the council has aligned itself with Malawi National Youth Policy, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that young people’s rights in access to information and participation in decision making is guaranteed across the world.

The guidelines were adopted by the Nsanje district council on August 27.