Reflections post 2014 World Population Day #WPD2014! Date: 14/07/2014

celebrate the 2014 World Population Day. The event was organised by the Department of Social Development with the support of UNFPA.

This year's theme ‘investing in young people' reflected on the role of the government in addressing young people's needs, as well as understanding young people's issues and how they can contribute to the discussion about their future. Young people are therefore actors of change and, as indicated many times during the event, they want and need to be included in the future development plans.

During the event, many young leaders expressed recommendations about the many challenging issues such as inclusion of key population in access to services, employment as well as information mechanisms. Young people called for a support at a community level "information must filter down to communities in such a way that people understand" said one of the youth leaders.

Not only youth voices were heard at the event. UNFPA Country Representative, Dr. Esther Muia, as well as the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Bogopane-Zulu, delivered their messages of support to the audience.

‘We can invest in young people only if young people invest in themselves' stated DM Bogopane-Zulu. Support structures, such as school and a conducive family environment are milestones in youth development.

UNFPA argued to invest where it counts: "government, families and communities need to make focused and deliberate investments and provide opportunities to ensure that adolescent and youth progressively develop the knowledge, skills and resilience needed for a healthy productive and fulfilling life" highlighted Dr. Muia. In addition to this, " young people need to be put as central to the future South Africa's development plans: there is a great potential for young people to feature centrally in the development frameworks" she added.

What is young people's role in achieving this? "Young people need to hold their government accountable: government in partnership with role players must ensure that all young people access the opportunities that enable them to grow, develop and prosper". In addition to this, young people need to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) including social media which "can bring in an equitable and inclusive manner young people's voices to every remote corner around the country", concluded UNFPA.

Tied to the World Population Day, UNFPA launched a global selfie social media campaign to harness and demonstrate to world leaders the worldwide support that exists for young people to feature at the heart of the development agenda after 2015. It builds around a digital petition in the form of selfies to show global support from young people and other stakeholders for young people as active actors of change. In addition, UNFPA South Africa successfully launched its facebook page to create a platform for young people to discuss about their needs and inform supporters on UNFPA's work in provinces as well as nationally.