Policy

Policy as a pillar generated a lot of interest among delegates partly because of the inability of most African governments to come out with comprehensive policies that guide youth development in their respective countries. There have however been a gradual interest by various governments to recognize the position of the youth and this has been most evident in the formulation of the African Youth Charter as a standard for youth development. The Charter amongst other things will oblige State Parties to formulate their respective national youth policies and to meet the socio-economic and political development challenges facing the youth.

The Policy Pillar was thus aimed at developing a broad framework that would address most of the challenges confronting the youth particularly in Africa. This approach was adopted in recognition of the fact that the non-existence of a substantive policy framework denies the youth the opportunities to effectively exercise their civic rights and play a definite role in issues of national and international interest.

Topics covered under policy included the under listed:

·         Accelerating the ratification and implementation of the African Youth Charter

·         Budgeting for the Youth Development- Public CRS and Resource Allocation

·         Youth and Agriculture: Policy direction and Attractiveness.       

Other areas of discussion were on Foreign Policy and Youth Development in Africa and The African Youth in the World Gone Global. These sessions were led by Prof.  Atukwei Okai (PAWA), H.E. Audrey Morantz,(former Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana) and was facilitated by Dr. Nana Akua Anyidoho (ISSER).

Participation and Empowerment

Participation and Empowerment (P&E) was the second Pillar on which the conference was anchored.  The idea of participation and empowerment is informed by the critical role of the youth as a linkage between childhood and adulthood. This makes their involvement in decision making inevitable since they will bear the effects of policies made today by those in positions of trust. Sad to note however, the absence of policy frameworks does not provide the functional structures and opportunity for such interactions and participation.

The P&E Pillar was thus aimed at giving Delegates the opportunity to relook at the issues that has bedeviled the involvement young people in the making of decisions that would affect their very lives in the not too distant future.  It sought to dissect the problems of cultural restrictions and traditional norms that hinder the active participation of the youth in the developmental processes of their respective countries.  In addition to these, the issue of Youth Unemployment, Illiteracy and Low Educational Development were tabled for discussion.

The Conference under the P&E Pillar touched on the following:
•    Youth Employment Challenge in Africa: Promoting Economic Empowerment Targetting Youth through the Right to Decent Work.
•    Gender Mainsreaming and Youth Participation in National Politics
•    Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and its Relevance to Sustainable Development in Africa  
These sessions were led by the Realizing Rights Team, USA and representatives of UNFPA.

Mobilization

In most African countries, young people make up more than 50% of the population. These numbers should provide a comparative advantage in the turnout of the human resource capital and manpower for Africa’s economic development.  To do this, African governments would have to invest in developing their capacity and effectively harnessing and channeling their potential towards productive initiatives. This has however not been the case.
On the contrary, young people in Africa have over the years particulary during elections been relegated to emotional appeal to simply vote on specific party lines placing much emphasis on the ‘negatives’ of the other political parties and ‘fault finding’ with electoral structures (negative mobilisation).  There are useful ways that the energies of these young ones could be put. Youth volunteerism is a virgin area that most African countries are yet to explore fully. When young people are educated and well motivated, their services could be employed in voluntary work that would contribute to the development of their countries (positive mobilization). Mobilisation as a Pillar of the Conference was thus looked at from two angles namely Negative Mobilisation and Positive Mobilisation.
Mobilisation as a Pillar sought to establish effective ways by which the energies of young people across Africa could be harnessed towards productive initiatives whilst minimizing their involvement in social vices. To this end, discussions focused on how the Youth could be mobilized to advocate for the passage of Youth Policies for their respective countries and see to their implementation. Subsequent to this was how young people could be empowered to actively participate in the implementation of programmes that directly impact on their lives.
Discussions were led by leaders of the regional caucus groups, CDD-Ghana and FEDYAG.