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African Youths seek an African Youth Assembly

The 2nd Pan African Youth Forum had over 500 Africans from the continent and diaspora in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The youths launched the Declaration for the African Youth Assembly which can be found in four languages.

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About 500 young Africans from all over Africa and the diaspora gathered a week ago at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa for the 2nd Pan African Youth Forum. The Forum, themed “Africa Unite for Youth: Bridging the Gap and Reaching African Youth,” was also the occasion to launch the “1 million by 2021” initiative by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Young people engaged for 4 days, from the 24th to the 27th of April 2019, on thematic of education, engagement, entrepreneurship and employment and sorted different roadmaps and action plans. Among these, the “African Youth Assembly”, a decision-making body within the African Union Commission and under the leadership of the Office of the AU Youth Envoy.

As youths commit to ensure that young people are afforded trust and acceptance in their role as decision-makers, so that all African youths benefit from true partnerships, opportunities for inter-generational dialogue, and will be able to strengthen their ability to tackle issues which affect them, they wrote and published a declaration to be signed by Africa’s young people and organizations in Africa and the Diaspora.

Read: AU head, Mahamat emphasizes empowerment of women and youth

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Africa Day: Youth participation, the power is in our hands. Cartoon credit: Tony Namate/This is Africa

Africa Day: Youth participation, the power is in our hands. Cartoon credit: Tony Namate/This is Africa

Read: In Africa’s future there is no space for old and corrupt dictators

The declaration partially says, “Through the recognition and realization of this declaration, we reiterate that young people have a right to participate on equal terms, as partners, not just beneficiaries, with other stakeholders on matters which impact their lives. This includes the development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes, and initiatives particularly the 1 Million by 2021 initiative, launched by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat on the 27th April 2019.”

This declaration in all 4 languages of the African Union, is available HERE. Another action to make their voices reach those responsible within respective organizations in the continent is signing an online petition HERE.