{"id":1773,"date":"2011-05-09T11:17:37","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T11:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faceofmalawi.com\/?p=1773"},"modified":"2011-05-09T11:17:37","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T11:17:37","slug":"felix-limbani-empowering-malawis-youth-yoneco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/2011\/05\/09\/felix-limbani-empowering-malawis-youth-yoneco\/","title":{"rendered":"Felix Limbani: Empowering Malawis Youth (YONECO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Felix Limbani, director of programs at the nonprofit group YONECO, is a leader in youth development in his native Malawi. Read more: http:\/\/iipdigital.usembassy.gov\/st\/english\/article\/2011\/05\/20110505172002nerual0.9311792.html#ixzz1LqwZOR00<\/p><\/div>\n

Washington \u2014 While still in his teens, Felix Limbani decided to help establish what he called \u201ca platform where young people\u2019s voices could be heard\u201d in his native Malawi, where those aged 10\u201329 make up roughly 60 percent of the population.<\/p>\n

There were relatively few youth-oriented groups in Malawi, Limbani said. \u201cYoung people were often seen as inexperienced, arrogant, lazy, ignorant, problematic and useless.\u201d He wanted to change that perception and to encourage young people to take charge of their futures and help shape their country\u2019s future, as well.<\/p>\n

Young people contribute to the political, social and economic development of Malawi, he said, but \u201ctheir contributions could be considerably greater\u201d if increasing investments are made in education, health care and leadership training. Young people need to be given a voice in Malawi\u2019s decisionmaking process and a role in solving the country\u2019s problems, said Limbani.<\/p>\n

As a secondary-school student, Limbani helped start Zomba Young Voices in his hometown of Zomba. He also got involved in YouthNet and Counselling (YONECO) and other community youth groups, and completed his bachelor\u2019s degree in education at the University of Malawi. Now Limbani is YONECO\u2019s director of programs.<\/p>\n

Formed in 1997, YONECO is committed \u201cto empowering youth, women and children, combating the spread of HIV infection, mitigating the impact of AIDS, and promoting democracy and human rights for socio-economic development,\u201d according to its website. It is active in 14 of Malawi\u2019s 28 districts.<\/p>\n

Most young Africans \u201clive under extreme poverty,\u201d Limbani said. Of the 12 million young people (ages 15\u201324) living with HIV and AIDS worldwide, three-fourths are in sub-Saharan Africa, he said, and \u201cwomen and young girls continue to be the most vulnerable\u201d to HIV infection.<\/p>\n

His organization works to help girls and young women, in particular. There are limited opportunities for girls to be educated \u201cbecause the economic value of their work at home exceeds the perceived value of schooling,\u201d said Limbani. As a result, \u201ca lot of young women\u201d experience teen pregnancy or resort to commercial sex work, he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Felix <\/p>\n
Felix Limbani, standing, in sweater vest, is surrounded by YONECO colleagues who staff Malawi’s national toll-free hotline. They answer questions and advise those in crisis.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The creation of a national toll-free help line for youth to report problems and get advice in Malawi is a particular source of pride for Limbani. It is supported by the government and coordinated by YONECO.\u201dThe help line is the first of its kind in the youth arena in Malawi,\u201d he said. It lets young people \u201cget answers to questions that they wanted to ask and never had the chance\u201d to ask, questions on sexuality and HIV\/AIDS, for example. Cases of child abuse are also reported. According to Limbani, the help line was able to prevent the marriages of five female children to older men.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur youth development program targets young people between the ages of 10 and 29,\u201d Limbani said. \u201cThese are in- and out-of-school youth.\u201d YONECO helps them get training in vocational and life skills, and leadership and community development, and also provides information on HIV\/AIDS prevention, human rights and other critical issues. There are special programs aimed at promoting the rights of women and children.<\/p>\n

Limbani\u2019s work with young people was recognized by President Obama, who invited him to participate in the President\u2019s Forum with Young African Leaders in 2010 in Washington. Being part of the forum was \u201ca motivation to do more,\u201d Limbani said.<\/p>\n

He is studying for a master\u2019s degree in public health and hopes his example will show young Africans that \u201ceducation and knowledge are the only tools that can put them in a position of power to advocate for their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about YONECO, visit the organization\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http:\/\/iipdigital.usembassy.gov\/iipdigital-en\/index.html)<\/p>\n

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Read more: http:\/\/iipdigital.usembassy.gov\/st\/english\/article\/2011\/05\/20110505172002nerual0.9311792.html#ixzz1LqvupTaX<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington \u2014 While still in his teens, Felix Limbani decided to help establish what he called \u201ca platform where young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[252],"tags":[46,456,250],"class_list":["post-1773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-profit-organizations","tag-yoneco","tag-youthnet","tag-zomba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}