ON Saturday we were celebrating International Women’s Day and yesterday we  commemorated Youth Day.
Unlike Women’s Day, Youth Day has for years now been characterised by boycotts from both political parties and civil organisations that feel there is nothing to celebrate about this day.
Well, there is no getting past the fact that among the major problems of the Zambian youth is unemployment.
However, I personally feel boycotting the commemoration of Youth Day is not the best way to capture the attention of our leaders.
Shunning an occasion like this is a missed opportunity for us youths to give recommendations for how the Government can better partner and work with young people in the areas of employment, entrepreneurship, political inclusion, citizenship and protection of rights, and education, including on sexual and reproductive health.
Youth Day is also the perfect opportunity to celebrate the gift of being young and maybe open up our leaders minds to the new ideas out there.
Moreover, what have those who keep boycotting this day achieved so far? How do we expect our leaders to take us seriously if we can’t engage them in serious talks on such occasions?
A wise man once wrote that the world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.
Most of us youths don’t even know what we want to do with our lives yet we expect everything to just fall in place. Life doesn’t work like that.
Most youths in this country need to change their attitudes. Let us not just complain about lack of employment when we are busy molding ourselves into a whole generation of drunkards, lazy, ignorant, bookless young adults who can’t make out a few paragraphs of the written word.
There is need for youths in this country to be repositioned to become change agents.
This is only possible if  youths have inner change, attitudinal and behavioural transformation, and value re-orientation.
Happy Youth Day to all the young people.
Kampa Senkwe