Africa: Most AU Member States Yet to Ratify African Youth Charter

By George Okore

MALABO---Delegates converge in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in June 2011 for the annual African Heads of State and Government Summit under theme ‘Youth Empowerment for Sustainable development’.

The annual  gathering  of  the African Union’s 53–member States  and other stakeholders comes at a time when  many African governments  have failed to ratify African Youth Charter – a document  which  is expected to  promote  the welfare of  children adolescents  and youths  and children. Few African governments have endorsed and ratified the Charter, a document   that was adopted during Heads of States and Governments in Banjul, The Gambia in 2006 as the framework to defend rights, duties and freedom of the Youths. 

Under the charter, policy makers must mainstream youth issues into policies and programmes, thus ensuring their participation in governance structures and fora at national, regional and continental levels. The Youth Charter is a legally binding framework for governments to develop supportive policies and programmes for young people, and serves to fast-track the implementation of such policies and programmes. It also provides a platform for youth to assert their rights and fulfill their responsibility of contributing to the continent’s development.

Despite the existence of the youth charter, many African youth still suffer significant disadvantages. It is estimated that 130 million young people suffer from illiteracy, unemployment diseases and poverty. Other challenges include sexual abuse, drugs and human traficking. Many African youths find themselves without education and training, as well as the productive and purposeful use of their time. They are also easily drawn into conflict and violence.

Alongside the numerous rights afforded to young people, the charter also outlines the responsibilities that young people bear towards their families, the society and the state. It is of paramount importance that young people become the custodians of their own development, partake fully in citizenship duties, and contribute towards the economic development of states and Africa as a whole.

The charter defines youth as individuals between 15 and 35 years of age; it outlines the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of young people, as well as the duties to be performed by signatory states, to advance their rights. The rights and duties can be clustered into four main themes:  youth participation, education and skills development, sustainable livelihoods, and health and well-being. They should become the vanguards of preserving, promoting and representing Africa’s cultural heritage in languages and in forms to which youth are able to relate. “Youths are critical to the continent’s development, and policy makers must ensure that girls and women can make equally valued contributions to this development,’ says Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Within the ambit of youth participation, young people are awarded the right to actively participate in all spheres of society. In this regard, the charter specifies that signatory states should guarantee youth participation in parliament and other decision-making processes, develop and implement comprehensive and coherent national youth policies, mainstream youth issues and establish a national youth coordinating mechanism.