Prime
The youth must involve themselves in AU affairs
Mr Daniel Obal
What you need to know:
- In response to the concerns of the youth, chairperson of the AUC Moussa Faki Mahamat on November 1, 2018, announced the appointment of Ms Aya Chebbi as the AU’s youth envoy to be a mouthpiece of the African youth within the AU system.
On the November 1, the Government of Uganda and the African Union Commission (AUC), with support from development partners, celebrated the Africa Youth Day in Kampala. The celebration was held under the auspices of President Museveni in his extended mandate as African Union’s champion for political integration.
Uganda’s youth have demonstrated an interest in association, identifying, learning and being a part of all African Union development initiatives.
This rise in appetite may be attributed to the 2022 African Peer Review Mechanism Continental Youth Symposium in which President Museveni launched the African Union’s One Million Next Level initiative and pledged total commitment to supporting African Union’s development frameworks that targets the youth.
In this specific meeting, President Museveni tasked young people to be driven by correct ideologies.
Over the years, there had been a gap between the AUC and the youth of the continent. These, experts have argued, were as a result of the commission’s inactions to important issues of youth development, and display of disunity among member states.
In response to the concerns of the youth, chairperson of the AUC Moussa Faki Mahamat on November 1, 2018, announced the appointment of Ms Aya Chebbi as the AU’s youth envoy to be a mouthpiece of the African youth within the AU system.
In practice, the creation of this position rekindled interests of Africa’s youth on the legitimate desire of the AU to work for the young people.
In an era where the youth believe that multilateral systems do not work for them, the creation of a strategic representative office for the youth within the AU offered rays of hopes to the continent’s most cherished human capital.
Through its directorate of the women, gender and youth, the AUC has tailored several programme-based interventions to provide concrete opportunities to Africa’s youthful population.
Initiatives such as the One Million Next Level, the Women and Youth Financial Inclusion, the African Union Youth Volunteers Programme and the African Union’s Bingwa all aspire to provide concrete opportunities for African youths in several fields of development such as education, engagement, entrepreneurship, employment, health and wellbeing, among others.
Within these initiatives, AUC and its development partners are unlocking collectively more than $400 billion to finance youth development programmes within the continent. Under these AU-led frameworks, member states, with the technical support of the AUC, will rally development partners to provide funding for the most pressing concerns of the youth.
In November 2022, Mr Faki in his letter to President Museveni expressed his appreciation to Mr Museveni’s commitment to youth development in the country. He stressed that the President’s gestures placed Uganda as a pilot country for the implementation of AU’s initiatives on youth development.
Indeed, through programmes such as the Presidential Initiatives on Skilling Girl and Boy Child, the Youth Livelihood Programmes, the Youth Venture Capital and the Green Jobs initiatives, Uganda has adequately supported its youth by skilling and retooling them.
Uganda’s commitment to AU’s youth development framework has so far motivated Burundi and Egypt to follow suit with the launching of the One Million Next Level initiatives at country level. Other AU member states such as Namibia, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, among others, are lined up to ascend to this framework.
Mr Obal is a special presidential aide/ envoy to the President of Uganda
[email protected]
