The document discusses youth engagement in Tanzania, where 66% of the population of 47 million is under age 25. Historically, young people have played important roles in politics and activism through youth wings of political parties. Since the 1990s, the number of political parties and youth organizations has increased, providing more platforms for youth involvement. A 1996 national youth policy also aimed to promote youth engagement through organizations working on issues nationwide. Young people are actively involved in technology, media, environmental initiatives, and volunteer work in cities. However, true participation is still limited as youth councils have not been established and many organizations are influenced by political or donor agendas rather than local ideas. Overall, Tanzanian youth face challenges

1. T1 Shaping the Future
Shaping the future: Youth engagement in Tanzania.
Samwel Moses Ntapanta.
”WE KNOW YOUNG PEOPLE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD:
THE QUESTION IS HOW?”
Dilhani Wijeyesekera
The population in Tanzania is estimated to be around 47mil., and 66% of them are under the
age of 25, which makes Tanzania the tenth on a scale of the world's countries with the biggest
youth population.
Young people are part of the big changes that are going on in Tanzania, from politics,
entrepreneurship to activism, young people have played an important role in enforcing
changes. After independence in 1961, young people were involved in the country’s affairs
through the TANU and later the ruling party CCM’s youth wings (Green Guards). The youth
wing in the party was a place to nurture the future leaders. During this era though, young
people were regarded as not mature enough to be involved in serious society or country affairs.
In the era of Liberalism, from the beginning of the 1990s, the platform for more youth
engagement was widened. The number of political parties rose from 1 to 13 in 1995 and up to
22 in 2014, and now each political party has a youth wing, which has become the most
important and influencial group in all political parties. The number of young politicians has
increased tremendously, and there are more young Members of Parliament in the current
legislature than before.
Moreover, a National Youth Development Policy was enacted in 1996. It provided more room
for youth engagement and was also a stimulant for the mushrooming of youth based
organisations, which have spread country-wide today. These youth organisations have become
more audible on issues from grassroot to national ones. A good example is the Tanzania Youth
Vision Association (TYVA) which organised a conference for youth based organisations all
over the country to discuss youth issues that should be considered in the new constitution.
Like in any other country of the world, the engagement of youth in Tanzania, in science and
technology cannot be compared with any group in the society. The accessibility to mobile
phones and internet has made it easy to exchange information. A good example is HAMASA TV,
an online TV managed by young university students to channel information that is not easily
available in other media.
As the effects of climate change hit farmers in the villages very hard, there is huge rural to
urban migration especially to the big cities like Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha. There are
many youth groups working on safe cities activities. One of them is Voice Giving in Dar es
Salaam, which is a group of secondary school students who are voluntarily cleaning streets and
bus stops during their spare time.

2. Although the platform for youth participation has widened, there are a lot of problems in getting
active spaces for young people to engage fully. The national development policy (1996)
emphasizes the government's responsibility to provide a platform for youth participation -
without acknowledging youth led initiatives. It also stresses the importance of youth councils,
but until today they haven’t been established. Many youth organisations are captured by the
political elite or donor funded programs, which hinders the effective addressing of local ideas.
However, apart from many setbacks, young people in Tanzania are provinding a bright future
for change.