Promote youth participation in governance – Participants

Participants at a two-day summit have called on West African governments to promote youth participation in political governance at all levels.

According to them a 40 percent quota system should be promoted while creating intergenerational  platforms for experience sharing in good governance.

This was contained in a communique and read by the African Union Youth Ambassador Mohammed Kunta in Accra on Thursday.

He said it was important to involve the youth in political dialogue and conflict mediation mechanisms, adding that civic education and responsible citizenship should be encouraged to enlighten the young people.

He said governments should consider reviewing existing mechanisms to bridge communication gaps between leadership and the youth while defining the needs of the youth indifferent age groups and not limited to employment or recreational activities.

According to Mr Kunta, governments of West African states need to empower the youth in the area of good governance, peace and security while incorporating them in conflict mediation mechanisms as well as provide funding and resource support to national and local youth formations to effectively engage and participate in leadership.

 He charged the youth to improve their capacities and knowledge base, on the legal framework for effective engagement with stakeholders and embrace technology by using social media as a citizen observation tool, especially in election violent-prone areas.

“The youth of member states must establish platforms and capacity strengthening avenues for intergenerational dialogue and conflict resolution and engage in knowledge generation and policy making processes to ensure and effect the change they seek and demand,” he added.

He urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to involve the youth in election monitoring, observation and conflict prevention.

 Mr Kunta pleaded with ECOWAS heads of States to abide by the principles and legal frameworks they have adopted and also create a regional criminal court of justice to address cases of manipulation and unconstitutional changes in power.

“ECOWAS heads of state must strengthen internal resource mobilisation to limit reliance on external resources to implement some regional policies,” he stated.

BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU