Concerned Youth Organization (CYO) » Members

Concerned Youth Organization (CYO)

Contact: Harvey Chimaliro
P. O. Box 112, Blantyre Cell Phone: +265888644460 Website: concernedyouthmalawi.wordpress.com
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Biographical Info

The Concerned Youth Organisation (CYO) is a local youth-focused non-profit and non-governmental organisation. CYO is located in the southern part of Malawi with its offices in the City of Blantyre. The organisation was established in September, 2002. CYO is legally registered with the government of Malawi under the Trustee Incorporation Act of the Laws of Malawi and with the National Youth Council of Malawi under the National Youth Act. CYO was established by concerned youths who realized the significance of youth in development of the society in addressing problems they face. From observation and experience it was realized that youth in slums and rural communities have the potential in contributing towards sustainable change in development but are limited by the environment they reside in and therefore need empowerment and encouragement. It is important to note that majority of the youth residing in slums and informal settlements engage in crime, drug abuse and prostitution for survival, they are forced into these activities by the hardship they face, slums or rural set up that are characterized by unemployment of youth, a filthy physical environment, poor housing, lack of sanitation facilities and general poverty situation. This situation contributes to high HIV and AIDS prevalence rate, crime and human rights violation, gender inequalities and gender based violence. CYO chose to work with youth and marginalized communities affected by poverty as they form larger part of the population in Malawi. Considering that over 70% of Malawi’s population is under the age of 35; Concerned Youth Organisation therefore strongly believes that empowering young people with relevant and appropriate skills and encouraging them to undertake youth-led initiatives is key to youth participation in various sustainable development efforts that best address their problems and hence positively contributing towards attainment of both Malawi’s vision 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CYO also believes that when youth are encouraged to work together constructively they have the ability to influence each other and the community around them. In this 21st Centuary, youth population from developing world constitute over half of the population hence a need to put much efforts and resources in investing in the youth. CYO has the following focus areas: 1. Youth economic empowerment 2. Governance, gender and human rights 3. Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS 4. Environment and Climate Change Other strategic areas: 1. Institutional sustainability and capacity building 2. Partnership and resource mobilization

Categories: Members
Updated 8 months ago.