The implementation of effective, well-grounded policies to support youth development is lacking, write Ariane de Lannoy and Pippa Green JUNE 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Soweto uprising. Then, a generation of youth rose up, first against unequal education, later against the whole apartheid system. Today, 22 years into democracy, a new generation of youth, the so-called born-frees, face a different set of challenges, some as daunting as those faced by their parents, who risked death and imprisonment in the quest for freedom.Admittedly, the lives of many young people today are better: expanded access to social grants has mitigated the worst forms of poverty and improved the nutrition and educational chances of children.Education is almost universally available through the public school system, and levels of education among children today are, on average, higher than they were for their parents or grandparents.There is free public healthcare, and, mostly, if not uniformly, thos...

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