The DYC provides a learning platform for learners to develop their leadership qualities, through actively managing and participating in community based outreach projects. This is in efforts to develop an awareness of the community and uplift and empower the lives of many.[3]
The Durban Youth Council comprises 130 councilors, who hail from 40 schools in the greater Durban area. Membership changes each year. The council year begins in September of their Grade 10 year with their specific onboarding and ends in December of the next year. Each school has the opportunity of sending four grade 11 students to represent on the DYC, and a select number of schools have the opportunity of sending six. The DYC is run as a democracy, and each council year has its own hierarchy. The student Board runs the council, and is headed by a smaller group known as the Executive Board, consisting of a Mayor, Deputy Mayors, and a Council Manager.
Some of its more notable achievements have been the move in 2019 to a fully digital enabled operating model to enhance and streamline work and in 2020, the DYC introduced a Coaching Program (Develop Your Core) to better enable all students with more formal leadership development offered by its Steering Committee. Examples of the types of projects ran by the DYC are detailed in the 2014 DYC yearbook.[4]
Within the Durban Youth Council are identified pillars. As the Durban Youth Council's main objective is community service, there are six community service specialised group. Each committee is specialized to channel its community service projects into a category, E.g. Health, Social Development, Education .[5] The pillars are as follows:
Education - Creating awareness of issues affecting the youth, as well as being a voice for the underprivileged.
Arts & Culture - Promoting a focus in the arts among the youth, with projects that target the culture of Durban.
Environmental - Targeting issues relating to the environment and infrastructure of the community.
Social Development - Helping those in need who may be affected by hunger, disability or a related cause as well as other groups who are oppressed or underprivileged.
Health - Targeting issues relating to epidemic diseases such as HIV, as well as the humanities.
Sports & Recreation - Encouraging an active lifestyle of sport and recreation among the youth, as well as the general population of Durban.
