Submission by AfriForum and AfriForum Youth on “Minority youth: towards inclusive and diverse societies”, made during the 10th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues 30 November to 01 December 2017 Palais des Nations, Geneva Introduction In South Africa, the youth faces many serious challenges. AfriForum and AfriForum Youth are two organisations established in the country by civil society, inter alia to address these issues and to play an active role in ensuring that young South Africans can look forward to a viable future. AfriForum, established in 2005, focuses on minority rights issues in general and Afrikaner rights in particular. It comprises 204,159 members,1 each contributing a monthly donation to AfriForum. The organisation is inclusive and committed to the promotion of a culture of mutual recognition and respect amongst all South African communities. The maintenance of rule of law is of paramount importance to it. AfriForum Youth is the youth wing of AfriForum. It has been in existence for nine years and has several thousand members across South Africa. It has been the spearhead of several campaigns that focus on the protection of the rights of young Afrikaners, without infringing on the rights of any other South African communities. AfriForum Youth is a registered youth organisation at six major South African universities and has more than thirty youth structures in towns and cities across South Africa. These youth branches actively contribute to the welfare of all in the areas in which they have been established by: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Developing young leaders within society; Implementing protocols to ensure the safety of all South Africans; Actively participating in the political scene in South Africa; Opposing racially-based policies in all spheres of society; as well as Promoting mother-language education in general, and Afrikaans motherlanguage education in particular. Some of the most serious challenges facing the South African youth 1. A dysfunctional education system In 2015, South African schools ranked second-to-last in the world according to a survey conducted re science and mathematical proficiency by the 1. Report received from AfriForum data base manager, 22 November 2017. 1