A youth rights campaigner has observed gaps on the engagement of youth and response of needs for youth in Malawi during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Assessing youth involvement on Covid-19 issues, the youth rights campaigner Chimwemwe Kawonga told YFM that government has done little to address young people’s needs and hasn’t been forthcoming with assistance to the youth.

“Looking at the structures responding to issues of Covid-19 at national level you will find that the ministry of youth, the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM) were sidelined.

“In other countries there has been the establishment of the Covid-19 youth fund but this is not the case in Malawi, much as there is the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) which provides loans to various sectors of our population you’ll find that up to now less than K1 billion has been disbursed,” he said.

Kawonga has nonetheless applauded civil society organisations for being vigilant in building capacity for the youth on Covid-19 issues.