Menpora prepares youth 'blueprint' for the next 100 years

Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir is preparing a national youth blueprint for the next 100 years. Erick stressed that since his arrival at the ministry, the youth sector has received primary attention, not just sports. “If you remember, I raised that issue from the very beginning. And thank God, from several discussions with the experts we formed, we see that 2028 marks the 100th anniversary of the Youth Pledge, meaning what should our youth strategy be for the next 100 years? I am sure it will be very different from 100 years ago,” Erick said during a working meeting with Commission X of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The need to create young people who can become future national leaders is the main reason a blueprint is required to serve as a guide for character strengthening over the next century, as well as to harness the demographic bonus as a potential source of Indonesia’s greatness. “Of course, we must not let a demographic situation that should be a bonus for the nation to become stronger in the future turn counterproductive because we failed to prepare a competitive youth,” he said. Erick fully recognises that youth development is a strategic investment that determines the quality of Indonesia’s future leadership, innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. Therefore, the ministry is reinforcing a benefits-based budget paradigm so that every rupiah of state funds used will have a socio-economic impact and contribute to youth resource development. “For that reason, in the 2027 budget, we are increasing the allocation for the youth sector by almost threefold. Hopefully, it will not be reduced again, because youth development is an issue whose output may not be immediately visible, but it would be a grave mistake if we do not invest in our youth sector,” he said.