The Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) and its key regional partners, including Open Space Zimbabwe, the National Association of Youth Organizations (NAYO), and the Tanzania Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO), have launched the Catalyzing Youth Agency through the Southern Africa Youth Parliament project, an initiative that promises to open a new era for youth leadership in the Southern African region and beyond.  The project, supported generously by the European Union through its Women & Youth in Democracy initiative, aims to address critical challenges faced by young people in the region, such as limited access to information, lack of resources, and insufficient skills in policy advocacy and leadership. By focusing on capacity building, civic engagement, and policy advocacy, the project aligns with the broader goals of regional integration and development in Southern Africa, as well as the SADC’s vision of a region characterized by sustainable development, peace, and security, with youth actively shaping their own future. In his Special Remarks, Mr. Sheuneni Kurasha, the Chief Mentor of the Southern Africa Youth Parliament, pointed out that the region is facing significant obstacles pertaining to human rights and youth development at at a critical juncture in its development trajectory. As stated by Mr. Kurasha, there is an urgent need to encourage youth participation in political and civic activities as young people face many challenges, such as a lack of meaningful spaces for participation in governance, inadequate service delivery, corruption, violence, and human rights violations.