The National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO) has called on the Zimbabwean government to allocate at least 10% of the national budget to the youth sector, emphasizing that young people make up more than 60% of the country’s population.
Speaking after submitting recommendations to the Parliamentary Commission on Environmental Youth, NAYO representative McDonald Munyoro stressed the need for more funding to address the challenges affecting young Zimbabweans.
“We are urging the treasury to increase the budget for the Ministry of Youth to between 7% and 10%, compared to previous allocations of only 3% to 4%.” Munyoro highlighted that increased funding would enable the government to decentralize mobile vocational training centres, providing more young people—especially in marginalized areas—access to skills training.
He also called for enhanced support for Empower Bank, which offers financial products to youth-led enterprises, and recommended easing loan access to promote entrepreneurship.
