National Youth Network has said youth in the country have agreed to lobby for the legalization of safe abortion.

This was said by the chairperson elect for the network Chikondi Njaya during the general meeting the network held in Mponela, Dowa.

Njaya said youth have agreed to first present the idea at the International Conference on Population and Development slated for November in Kenya.

“The problem is that we are losing a lot of young girls due to unsafe abortion so it’s better just to have a law that allows people to abort pregnancy safely,” said Nyaya.

The meeting was organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

UNFPA Country Representative Young Hong said youth gatherings are important because they bring out a lot of issues that affect them and solutions are made.

“You need to bring out all your issues at forums like these and bring them to the authorities through your executive. You also need to have a very strong communication strategy so that you don’t leave anyone behind,” said Hong.

Director of Youth in the Ministry, Judith Susa assured the youth that the Ministry will always be there to support youth activities and continue formulating policies that favour the youth.

“We are one of the few African countries with brilliant youth friendly policies and our plans are clear that we want to promote youth representation at different levels,” said Susa.

The meeting was attended by youth representatives from districts and elected the new National Executive Committee, (NEC)