WYA President Obadias Ndaba speaks on development

World Youth Alliance President Obadias Ndaba reminds a group of Lasallian youths that development is multifaceted, in a two-hour lecture that transpired in DLSU’s Waldo Perfecto Seminar room last January 25.

In line with the Philippines’ unprecedented surge in economic growth, Ndaba explains that the Philippines’ global competitiveness has spiked (now holding the 65th spot out of 144 countries, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index last September 2012), a positive development in a faltering worldwide economy.

He commends the Philippines’ young workforce, saying it gives prospective Filipino workers an advantage over aging nations like Japan, United States, and Europe.

However, human capital development – enhanced through education, health care – still needs improvement to keep our footing strong; he also emphasizes that population density has no correlation with the development state of a country. Rather, development level is greatly influenced by the allocation of basic resources.

Beyond the stability of natural resources and a thriving market, Ndaba advocates that transcending the economic gap calls for not only an investment in human capital, but also the strengthening of good morals and central values towards a strong governing institution.

Ndaba is an African affairs analyst who joined the World Youth Alliance in 2010, a non-profit private organization that specializes in human-centered development and building solidarity between developed and developing nations. He is currently its worldwide President, visiting the Philippine branch of the NGO.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Kigali Independent University and worked under several banks in Rwanda. Most of his articles are published through African mass publications nationwide, and focus on development issues, population issues and economics.

The World Youth Alliance was initiated by Anna Halpine in 1999 as a response to the decisions made by youth representatives to the UN Conference on Population and Development. WYA was developed because these decisions did not include sufficient provisions on basic needs, such as the access to clean water, sanitation, education, health care, nutrition, and employment. The WYA has since been a vocal, permanent presence at United Nations assemblies and in spreading their advocacies worldwide, with WYA branches in Mexico, Kenya, Belgium, and the Philippines.