African governments have been urged to formulate guidelines and road maps to implement the National Youth Parliament enshrined in the African Youth Charter.
Such a move will help engage the youth in governance issues in respective African countries.
The African Youth Charter is a legal document intended to support policies, programmes and actions for youth development in Africa.
The document was endorsed by African Union Heads of States and governments in 2006.
This was contained in a resolution adopted by 60 delegates from Africa at the sixth African Youth and Governance Conference held in Zambia.
The Youth Bridge Foundation, organisers of the conference, presented the resolution to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration last Friday.
The resolutions were the results of discussions by the various committees on topics such as leadership and governance, education, agriculture and security.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwesi Quartey, received the document on behalf of the government.
Concerned about the poor participation of the youth in developmental issues, the delegates indicated that the National Youth Parliament would create the platform for the youth to participate in national issues.
They also called on governments to institute mentorship programmes in the public sector to groom the future leaders and public officials as well as resource already existing programmes geared towards empowering youth entrepreneurial skills.
Review education policies
The youth also called for the decoupling of the human resources, science and technology portfolio of the African and the appointment of a Commissioner for Youth Affairs at the African Union.
The resolution further asked African governments to review their education policies and infrastructure to make it possible for persons with disabilities to access quality education at all levels.
In his address, the Executive Director of the Youth Bridge Foundation, Mr Seth Oteng, indicated that the African youth, who constituted 65 per cent of the continent’s population, was a great asset that needed to be invested in to generate substantial development in future.
The conference
Touching on the conference, he said the African Youth and Governance conference was initiated in 2009 to provide the opportunity for the youth to discuss and find solutions to issues affecting them and the development of the continent.
The executive director said the conference also advocated the inclusion of the youth in policy development processes and the broader governance realm.
This year’s conference, he said, was built on the outcome of the first-ever Euro-African Youth Parliament, which was jointly organised by the Europe Youth Parliament and the Youth Bridge Foundation in Berlin this year.
The Berlin Conference also came out with similar resolutions, which were all incorporated in the resolution document presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Intergration.
Mr Oteng stated that over the years, the conference had educated and groomed a number of youth on national, regional and global issues which had empowered them.
Mr Quartey reaffirmed that the youth were the future leaders, hence the need to build their capacity and train them to explore their full potential.
He gave the assurance that the government would ensure the document was presented to the African Union for consideration.
