African Students Deliberate on the African Youth Charter

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Yours truly
SMK.

A PAPER BY SAEED MUSAH-KHALEEPHA ON THE TOPIC: ‘THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE AFRICAN YOUTH CHARTER’ PRESENTED AT A SUMMIT ORGANISED BY THE ALL AFRICA STUDENTS UNION IN ACCRA ON THE THEME: ‘THE AFRICAN YOUTH CHARTER AND THE NKRUMAH AGENDA’ ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 AT THE ACCRA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE.

THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE AFRICAN YOUTH CHARTER: Beyond Banjul; Issues in implementing the African Youth Charter

Mr Chairman,
Comrades from the fraternity of Students’ Governance,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have been humbled by the invitation extended to me by this noble organization to deliver a paper on the African Youth Charter. I was initially billed to deliver a paper at a youth summit at a later date at a place away from my homeland, Ghana. And I had just received a communication referring to the postponement of that summit when yours came my way last Wednesday.
As the topics are mutually exclusive I had the challenge of preparing this in a matter of hours and I must say I was deeply consumed in that. This presentation is therefore just the work of a couple of days. Normally I give my write-ups some time to ‘mature’ since some of the issues and wordings may need refinement.

In the communication I received from this union, I was made to understand that I will be sharing the same platform as the Minister for Youth and Sports. Therefore many of the issues I touched on were aimed at soliciting specific responses from him.

Introduction
In July 2006, at the 7th ordinary AU summit held in Banjul, the Gambia, which in itself was held two months after the first ordinary session of the Conference of Ministers in charge of Youth in the African Union (COMY), the Assembly of Heads of State and Government endorsed the African Youth Charter and declared the year 2008 as the year of the African youth and November 1 every year as African Youth Day. And this is just a year before the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) was revised from ten (10) thematic areas to fifteen (15) thematic areas.

The African Youth Charter was informed first of all by the call from member states for the development of a charter at their summit in Algiers in 1999. This was strengthened by the strategic plan of the Commission of the African Union (2004-2007), which had six key objectives viz.: to make the African Union Commission stronger and more responsive; to formulate a shared vision on Africa’s future (especially the youth); to promote and defend Africa’s positions in matters of interest to the continent and its people; to contribute to Africa’s cultural radiance; to enhance international and regional cooperation; and to promote a new citizenship anchored on Africa’s basic values, and on performance initiatives, and promote strong and integrated economies in Africa.

It is important to note here that the African Union Commission has recently been upgraded at an AU meeting in Sirte, Libya and is now known as the African Union Authority. It is the body charged with the implementation of the African Youth Charter.

Perhaps the most important determining factor for the development of the Charter was the status of the African Youth Report 2005 which showed that the ‘youth bulge’ in African populations could be a significant opportunity for Africa to make real progress. And this would require a deliberate effort and investment in youth development across the continent.

This presentation is intended to highlight what needs to be done by the member states (also called State Parties) to ensure that the Charter is taken into account in national development planning as it affects young people, and to ensure that it is implemented at national level through different mechanisms and existing national development frameworks.

The Charter
The African Youth Charter is a basic legal framework to guide and support policies, programmes and actions for youth development and empowerment across Africa. The Charter addresses the rights and freedoms, as well as the welfare, development and responsibilities of the youth.

Articles 2 to 9 of the Charter commits state parties to guarantee the rights of young people to own property, move freely, express themselves, associate freely with other members of the society and to practice whatever religion they choose. It further addresses the issues related to youth development, youth participation in decision making, youth policy (documents), education, health care, poverty reduction, employment, security, leisure and recreation, environment, culture, youth with disabilities, girls’ issues, youth in the diaspora and law enforcement in Articles 10 to 25.

It highlights the responsibilities of the youth regarding their own development and that of society in Article 26.

The Charter defines youth as any individual between the ages of 15 and 35. While this puts to rest the issue of a clear definition for youth on the continent, it also raises another very critical issue regarding personal growth and development. Youth is a transition period, and youth development programmes are put in place to support young people through this transition period. Given that life expectancy is significantly low for many countries. With the current life expectancy of 50.5 years for the continent, and as low as 42 in Sierra Leone, some wonder why we should define being young up to the age of 35? And pose the following questions: ‘When does the individual grow up?’
‘At what age do they then contribute to national development efforts?’
‘At what age do they then become productive and take responsibility for their own wellbeing?’

However, given that the responsibilities of the youth is defined in the Charter, it provides an opportunity for 15 to 35 year olds to take responsibility for their own development and those of their societies, and hopefully quicken the pace for the total emancipation of the African continent.

The Charter came into force on 8 August 2009, following the receipt of the 15th ratification on 8 July 2009. To date, 16 countries have ratified the Charter with Rwanda being the first and Nigeria being the most recent.

Other countries that have ratified the Charter are: Burkina Faso, Djibouti,
Gabon, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, South Africa, Togo and Uganda; 32 countries have also signed the Charter. And your host country, Ghana though is a signatory, is yet to ratify the Charter.

Information has it that Angola and Zimbabwe have both ratified the Charter. These are yet to be communicated to the AU Commission – the body responsible for implementing the Charter within the structures of the AU. What remains is to put in place the relevant mechanisms and structures to ensure that the Charter is implemented.

Implementation of the Charter
At a meeting of 11 pilot countries to advance the popularisation, ratification and
implementation of the Charter held in May 2009, African Union member states outlined certain conditions under which the Charter can be implemented. These include that all member states should: ratify the Charter by the end of the year 2010; have in place national youth policies and action plans that take into account and support the implementation of the Charter (this also applies to countries whose national youth policies are not in compliance with the Youth Charter); have mechanisms for reporting on progress made with the implementation of youth policies and programmes; and strengthen their respective representative bodies for youth.

Thus the Charter provides the basis for greater coordination by sectoral ministries responsible for youth (for example ministries of youth, employment and education among others), while providing the youth with a tool for advocacy and demand for greater accountability of government work.

The first step towards the implementation of the Charter is to put in place the relevant
frameworks and institutions that are needed to advance the status of youth in each member state.

These include: the institution of a government ministry or department responsible for youth affairs, the institution of a national youth coordinating body (council or federation or association as the case may be), the development of relevant national youth development frameworks, and the allocation of adequate budgetary resources for youth development.

Whilst Ghana has a Youth Ministry and a Youth Council, one can not best tell about the status of the country with respect to a National Youth Development framework. With respect to adequate budgetary support, it may be noted that concerns have been raised about the substitution of youth development budgets for sports. This in itself may not inure to the best interests of the youth since sports at best solves two of the main issues of youth development, that is, leisure and recreation for many and employment for some.

Another key step in the implementation of the Charter is the need to complement efforts made through the creation of focal points within the diverse line ministries affected by the provisions of the Charter, in order to facilitate coordination across sectors.

To enhance planning, the Charter should serve the basis to align national data-collection systems of persons within the age bracket of 15 to 35 across member states. And this data collection should be an ongoing process.

There has been some seeming confusion about how to implement the Charter. Some countries have proposed to develop separate implementation frameworks for the Charter, while others have indicated that the provisions of the Charter have been integrated into their respective national youth policies. However, the presentation by South Africa’s National Youth Commission points in the right direction:

More significantly, the Charter must be implemented within the framework of existing policies at the national level, especially the National Youth Policy.

Other policies to be adapted include the constitution as well as national policy frameworks on human rights, health, education, employment and various others as set out between Articles 2 and 25. Ghana has done considerably well with respect to some of these indicators. For instance the decision to abolish the shift system, introduce the capitation grant and the school feeding programme in basic schools are most commendable. The country may not fair well in its ‘calypso dance’ with second cycle education as has been observed by many. And I have commented extensively on the employment situation in a write-up I did last month on the occasion of the International Youth Day.

Experts say if the implementation of the Charter is integrated into other national policies, countries will incur little or no extra budgetary costs. Statutory budgetary allocations in the different sectors are often intended to provide services to the entire population. However, in implementing the provisions of the Youth Charter, each sector must keep in mind the need to create specific services for young people between the ages of 15 and 35 within that sector.

For instance Health services must take into account the need for this age bracket to access tailor-made reproductive health services.

Ensuring that services are tailor-made require that the regular trainings that are received by service personnel, that is training programmes meant for the staff of the applicable institution, take into account training for these youth-specific issues without creating new programmes.

In terms of education and skills development training, they are mainly targeted at the youth. However, more needs to be done to ensure that the curriculum meets market demands. And these can be done within the broad framework of education sector reforms.

One critical question that has been repeated several times is: is the African Youth Charter the solution to Africa’s youth development problems? The answer is both yes and no. The answer is yes because at the very minimum the Charter provides the basis for young people to advocate for their rights and it will serve as the guiding framework for youth development. Broadly, the Charter will also serve the means to guide long term planning on youth development. It is no for some reasons and one of it is that one is yet to sight a provision of the Charter that talks about Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Nonetheless it is a bold and assertive document for developing the youth of Africa

You may recall that the years 2009 to 2018 have been declared as the decade on youth development in Africa already. It is expected that this will assist many member states to think long term in their youth development planning. Many member states have national planning horizons set quite far in the future. For example, Botswana have theirs spanning up to 2016, Nigeria, Rwanda and Malawi all have it set up-to 2020, and up to 2030 for Zambia. Thus the Charter will assist these countries to integrate youth issues within their long-term national development frameworks.

A plan of action for the years 2009 to 2018 is also being developed by the AU Commission, which is actually the implementation and monitoring body for the African Youth Charter within the structures of the AU, as a means to advance the implementation of the Youth Charter over the next decade. This will significantly provide further guidance to the work of member states.

The African Youth Charter guarantees the participation of young people in parliament. This commits member states to guarantee a number of seats for youth using a quota system. This is already operational in some countries. And here Uganda and Rwanda are good examples.

Affirmative action must be implemented at national level regarding youth participation, and this must be done in a structured way, as part of national development policy. Increasingly, young people are taking leadership on their own terms and leading the change processes in their countries. They should be given a chance to participate.
In Ghana we have only mentioned a National Youth Parliament, not even the quota system, and it is yet to receive any favourable attention since we had a mock Parliament in February 2007. I have just been informed that the Parliament of Ghana gathered some students from institutions in Accra last Tuesday on the issue of conflict resolution. It is obvious that more ought to be done to accelerate the pace of youth development.

Affirmative action should also target the labour market. Unemployment rates in Africa are significantly high. This is a direct result of weak education systems, and is a direct cause of poverty, which drives many social and health problems. Because of this connection between employment and education, education systems must be shaped to meet market demands and not just education for the sake of literacy and numeracy.

Opportunities must also be provided to the young people to develop skills while at school in order to enable them get jobs immediately they leave school.
This can be done by adopting and implementing affirmative action, regarding employment policies.

Education must be made accessible to our young people, and efforts to provide loans, grants and the like must be expanded. For those who bother to know, you may find my write-up on student loans published in the Daily Graphic in the last quarter of 2005 useful. I am considering publishing it on my blog for your easy access.

In order to bring the provisions of the African Youth Charter to fruition, youth groups must start to organize advocacy campaigns on specific issues in the Charter. They must also start to organise around the governance processes to get themselves and their peers into public policy making spaces.

However, it is important for youth to also demonstrate (provide models) how the implementation of the Youth Charter is possible through the work of their organisations by undertaking education initiatives, participating in community volunteer teaching initiatives, getting involved in volunteer health care and environmental programmes and advocacy campaigns.

The 26th article of the African Youth Charter points clearly in the direction of the role of youth in such activities.

Conclusion
Finally the African Youth Charter is a practical step towards the full empowerment and development of Africa’s youth, who constitute around 20 percent of the continent’s population. While the diverse efforts to ensure that the Charter is implemented are being undertaken, it is important for all stakeholders to clearly appreciate the essence of investing in youth, not just as a burden to society, but as a resource for development.

Only when the youth are well served that the future of any nation can be fully guaranteed.

Mr. Chairman, permit me at this point to share some few thoughts with the delegates.
I take note that you are student leaders in your various countries and institutions. I wish to share with you some five qualities you will not need in today’s world.

You would not need boot camp values: The old values of unquestioning submission to authority are counter productive in this era.

Deniability: Leaders need to close the trust gap. When things go wrong, leaders accept responsibility rather than shift the blame.

The Golden Rule: Not the one that says “Do unto others as you want others to do unto you”, they say that is the silver rule and it is good. But you would not need the one that says, “He who has the gold makes the rules”. High allowances and expensive perks and per diem do not make the leader. Leaders show their abilities not their privileges.

Self-centeredness: In the stressful, fast changing education and leadership environment, leaders give others a chance to shine.

An iron fist: Reign by terror does not cut anymore. “Leaders do not inflict pain: they bear pain”.

Now, bearing in mind that parts of this presentation calls for change either in system or style. Let us focus on some steps to effective change. First you need to create dissatisfaction with status quo. In Nigeria where you have a youth development policy show that you want it implemented. In Uganda and Rwanda where you have the quota system being implemented call for impact assessment. In Ghana where you are not aware whether there is a youth policy or not push and demand for answers.
Then debate possible futures; open minds to new options and mobilise commitments. Ask the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘how abouts’. What if we commit ourselves to an educational system that will not be varied in the next decade or more? How about developing a human face policy to handle juvenile delinquency? And so on.

Next, act to learn, to discover what actually works in real world and foster consensus building.

And finally review, reflect and revise your strategies; monitor and adjust your ongoing efforts and your future plans of engagement.

A word of caution however; these may not be readily welcome by some of your constituents. They may raise legitimate issues of concern and some of them could be any of the following: It won’t work; we are already doing it; it has been tried before; it is not practical; it would not solve the problem; it is too risky; it is based on pure theory; it will cost too much; it will antagonise other stakeholders (management, union, students, lecturers, government); it will create more problems than it solves.

In all of these you will have to let reason prevail.

Mr. Chairman, I have been advocating for non-violent means of resolving differences. And even when you choose non-violence, I advocate for non-adversarial methods or non-litigious means for resolving differences. I am hopeful that you will give this your considered attention.

This summit is on the African Youth Charter and the Nkrumah Agenda. I take note that by now you have had several memorable quotations from Dr Kwame Nkrumah already. I intend to defy this. Rather, I wish to quote from one of Nkrumah’s contemporaries who admitted that he was greatly inspired and motivated by Nkrumah.
That is Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere who said “decades ago, as President of my country, I told Tanzanians that the choice before them was to change or be changed. I was wrong. There was no choice. They had to change and would still be changed.”
Thank you,
God bless the youth of Africa
God bless young people in the world
God bless our future
Thank you
And God bless you.
Saeed Musah-Khaleepha
19 September 2009
rafani@email.com
+233(0)208121764
http://samuleepha.blogspot.com
http://imediate.blogspot.com
http://raafani.blogspot.com
NOTE: References are available on request.