Discussions on the presentation of the African Youth Charter held in Yaounde on Thursday.

Council elections in Cameroon are around the corner and youth that form 60 per cent of the population have been urged to emerge from their different political parties as candidates to grab the majority of seats. Youth must also give their energies to the State through volunteering.

Making this call last Thursday November 1, 2012 in Yaounde, the Director of Associative Life in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Selema Akedjol, emphasised that youths have much to say but should do so in a responsible manner. He was one of the speakers at the round-table conference organised at the Institute of International Relations (IRIC) Yaounde to mark the Sixth African Youth Day. Organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, the conference had as theme, “The Implementation of the African Youth Charter in Cameroon: Perspectives and Balance Sheet.”

Presenting the African Youth Charter, Prof. Pius Ottou, said it was a tool youth could use to surmount their “leadership deficit” and participate in socio-economic and political spheres of life in the country. The Charter, he pursued, expresses the firm political will of African States to consider youths as actors in Africa’s development and decision-making. He urged young Cameroonians to remain positive and construct through advocacy. “Youths are expected to say correctly what they feel,” he said.

Participants, who also came from the National Youth Council and other forerunner youth associations, expressed the need to give NYC a clear status and resources to achieve its goals. The African Youth Charter was adopted by African Heads of State and Government on July 2, 2006 in Banjul, The Gambia, as an institutional and legal response to youth development and empowerment on the continent.