Private Sector Support Youth

(PANA) - A ministerial conference of the African Union (AU ), held here Friday, has called on the private and business sectors to support the devel opment of youth in the continent.

The second ordinary session of the AU Conference of ministers in charge of Youth (COMY) expressed a consensus that Africa needed to promote technological innova t ions that would enable the youth to play a visible role in the development of th e continent.

But achieving this goal, as various delegations pointed out, would require the c ollaboration of all stakeholders, particularly in the private sector, to impleme n t youth activities at national and sub-regional levels.

Already, the AU has drawn up a plan of action, spanning an eight-year period fro m 2007, as a framework for orientation on implementation of the African Youth Ch a rter and harmonisation of the youth policies and programmes.

Expected outputs of the plan of action include the strengthening of institutiona l capacity of youth organisations and establishment of mechanisms for cooperatio n , coordination, monitoring and evaluation.

Adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Banjul, Gambia, i n July 2006, the Charter has become an official blueprint for the development of

African youth.

The Charter covers, among other areas, education, employment, participation and leadership, health, welfare, peace and security, gender equality, environment an d culture.

Though several countries have reviewed their youth policies and integrated some of its elements in their official documents, the slow pace of its signing and ra t ification by the AU Member States has blurred the Charter’s take-off.

AU’s outgoing Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Nagia Mo hammed Essayed, said only 13 countries had signed the document and five had rati f ied it.

Urging a speedy ratification of the Charter, Nagia said that Africa’s victory ag ainst poverty, violence, insecurity and bad governance lies in the continent’s c a pacity to empower the youth so that they could take control and develop its reso u rces.

“We now dare to set youth empowerment and participation as priorities of good go vernance and sustainable development in Africa,” she added.

Countries that have signed the Charter are Benin, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Et hiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe.

According to AU Legal Counsel, Ben Kioko, countries that have ratified the Chart er were Gabon, Mali, Rwanda and Mauritius.

However, Zimbabwe’s Minister for Youth, Ambrose Mutinhiri, informed the Conferen ce that his country had also signed and ratified the Charter.

The AU has designated 2008 as the Year of African Youth.

Before the ministerial meeting closed, 11 winners of the first edition of the Af rican Youth Initiative and Creativity Awards were presented certificates, a trop h y and US$ 2,000 as prizes for designing outstanding posters to popularize the Ch a rter and the Year of African Youth.

The winners were picked from 109 entries that were sent to the AU Commission fro m the five political regions of the continent.

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