African Youth: Taking the past to the Future!

 Acknowledgments

My sincere acknowledgment and appreciation goes to Dr. Raymonde A. Agossou, Head of Division – Human Resource and Youth, Science and Technology Department of the African Union Commission who has provided me all the necessary documents about the African Youth Charter. I would also like to acknowledge members of Ethiopian the Youth Delegation to World Social Forum -2007 particularly Leyou Tameru and Addisalem Tesfaye from Young Leaders Network and Kasahun Belete from Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD)for their significant contribution for the development of this presentation.

Introduction

African youth, being the majority of the total population and being either the beneficiaries or the victims of all positive as well as negative phenomena in the continent – takes us to the most rational ground whereby we give a reasonable concern for issues of the youth. African youth as defined by the African Youth Charter refers to every person between the ages of 15 and 35 years of age. It is taken for granted that, this segment of the population can represent the cross-sectional part of African people; from a young high school student to a university student, from a young girl who gave birth to a baby after a marriage without her consent to a young lady at the ministerial/vice ministerial level of a state, from a young boy/girl living on the streets of African cities to a young entrepreneur or a young soldier,… what ever we can mention. We believe that issues that will be raised in this presentation will cover ideas that might not directly fall in the concern of many formal institutions but most probably in the minds of many Africans. We may not refer to well researched publications to justify and rationalize our arguments but we can assure that we are the living witnesses of the validity of the ideas that we are raising.

Objectives of the presentation

• Revitalizing African identity among the youth and proposing ways in which the process of creating/recreating the spirit of African identity – Social Integration
• Reinvigorating the role of the youth in the social development of the continent
• Promoting the means through which African youth should play a significant role in their community – African Youth Charter

Identity & Culture

Even though it is true that culture is in continuous processes of change, this does not deny the fact that it keeps on giving a community a sense of identity, dignity, continuity, security and binds society together. (Kirby, 1997). The concept of identity with its etymological examination is composed of the two words, literally ‘Id’ & ‘Entity’. The word ‘Id’ has two origins: from the Latin direction it points to the psyche and in Greek it points to the Greek word ‘idios’ – standing alone , this word means one’s ‘own’, private. The word ‘entity’ comes from ‘ens’ , the present participle of ‘esse’ which means ‘to be’ . It points to an entity as opposite to an attribute and as having objective reality. In this sense identity means something with its own/private (idios) objective reality. It points to individuality of a thing or a person i.e. to what a thing or who a person is. Hence, identity points to a relation, things of ‘own’ or ‘private’ or ‘objective reality’ presupposes the existence of another. Here we are confronted with what could be called the ‘paradox of identity’. Identity points to the separating, distinguishing and differentiating aspects of reality in contrast to other realities, and it also indicates the belongingness and similarity of the realities of a class in contrast to other realities, and it also indicates the belongingness and similarity of the realities of a class in contrast to other classes. So in essence, identity in itself points not only to a thing or all members of its class, but also to the class complements of this reality and to their classes. (Eyob, 2005)

Distinction of Identity of any society:

In any specific culture of a society, ways of appreciating and making art, ways of doing thing and living, a society manages to build an authenticity and originality that should distinguish it from other societies. This concept of authenticity and originality is very important because, it gives strong reference to the members of each society and is a useful means of integrating one’s self into society and to understand better the authenticity and originality of other societies. That means any society that could not distinguish itself from others through a living culture cannot really integrate its members and understand other cultures. We can say, culture is life and it gives authenticity and life to any society and thus it is a living bridge and means of dialogue. (Axis of reflection on education, culture and youth – AU, 2006)

African Identity

• Being part of the social processes of the continent (politics, economy, culture, religion...) of the   past, the present and the future.
•  A sense of belongingness; brotherhood and sisterhood beyond physical boundaries

Historically

• Belonging to a land of ancient and prominent civilizations of the Nile Basin, Kingdom of Aksum, the Nubian kingdoms, the empires of the Sahel (Kanem-Bornu, Ghana, Mali, and Songhi) Great Zimbabwe and the Kongo.
• •Being part of the inhuman practices of the slave trade and colonialism Politically
• A land where its people have been fighting for liberation and freedom from colonialism and still against neo-colonialism

Economically

• A land of abundant natural and human resource

Socially

•  A people who has its own distinctive and rich cultural values, norms, social institutions,

The features that can bring us African identity are not limited to these only rather they include almost everything that one can take as a manifestation for himself/herself (like religion, language, music, dance, skin color, hair and dressing style, and whatever we have…) The basic thing is that, we African People share most of all these features for a considerable time period in the past and even forever and we have built an implicitly and sometimes explicitly revealed sense of belongingness and identity among ourselves. Our point is that, since we have such a deeply founded shared identity, we should take this blessing opportunity as a potential to come-across all the unfavorable and unpleasant situations of our people. With particular emphasis on African youth, we believe that it [the young generation] is always at the forefront of every societal progress and it is through us [the young generation] that African People can achieve the most possible positive and real picture in its history. The issue that we are raising is too important to be only the issue of government officials, politicians and heads of states only. We, African youth, should be at the verge of determining and reshaping our future with all our potential to realize what we are always thinking. We know that all our endeavors are under the pressure of various phenomena in the world, particularly globalization and political instability, but we will continue to go through the positive exploitation of all the situations that we will be encountered with. The political process which has been carried out for the last four and more decades within the then the OAU and now the AU to realize a continent in which all its people come together politically, economically and socially were not merely beyond the influences of the outside world. We believe that it is hardly possible to get detached from the confrontation of the processes in the world, but it is not IMPOSSIBLE to have our own continuum on which we will construct our own road and define our role (in our context) towards the success of our continent. The AU should take different stapes so as to be the most effective and vibrant entity not in the eyes of the politicians or the heads of states rather in the hearts of African People, particularly in the soul of African Youth. And we hereby propose some steps that we think are good for the realization of a strong sense of African Identity particularly among African youth.

Social Integration

African People, particularly African youth have been dreaming for a better life in their respective countries for a long period of time. What we were dreaming and still trying to achieve did not come true yet. Truly speaking, it was not because we have not had the desired effort to do so. We believe that African youth have tried their best to realize their dreams and wishes during the past years of colonialism period and after that up until now. The major factor that has greatly  contributed for the unsuccessfulness of their efforts was lack of political will from the then and the present government officials either independently or with their organization the OAU. They were busy of building a relationship which was merely limited to the heads of states and the senior  government officials’ level only. The attempt to create a strong relationship and integration among the wider people was limited and the sense of ownership and belongingness among the people of Africa towards the OAU was questioned to a greater extent. There may be different factors why this was the case and we can mention various reasons to justify that. Even at this very moment, the transformation of OAU into AU was supposed to fill the gaps left by the former organization and we have started to see some attempts towards the realization of people to people relationship across the continent, which is really appreciated; and we need more. The issue of social integration beyond physical boundaries is some how the most viable step that we should think since our  continent has the most favorable social capital (social values, indigenous knowledge and cultural practices) that can be exploited as a resource in the development endeavors of the continent. African youth: taking the past to the future We can see social integration in different ways, but for this moment we can see it as; a dynamic and principled process where all members of a given community or society participate in dialogue to achieve and maintain peaceful social interactions and relations. While we are going through such kind of process it should be from ‘with in’ in such a way that every member of the community or the society [African youth in this case] should play a significant and meaningful role consciously. From the above stated definition of social integration we can draw some concepts that can help us to develop our own ways of doing things in a way we think i.e.

• We can think of a new initiative whereby African people in general  and African youth in particular will be engaged in a continues process of social interaction and relation so that they can draw a collaborative effort to act up on the common challenges they are facing and they will have an ideal opportunity to share strengthens and inspirations
• The initiative that we are proposing should be a real ‘youth initiative’, in which young people will play a leading role in every steps of the process beyond the bureaucracies and the protocols of any related institution in the continent
• The basic feature of the process of social integration can be the issues of its source i.e. it should emanate from ‘with in’ which will take us to the point that we have discussed in the above, the issue of identity. Whatever kinds of initiatives that we will have to achieve and any desired goal should be inline with our real African identity. We should give a greater value for our cultural outlooks and values, our history and social institutions, which are too essential to be surpassed by the political will of our governments. Our respective governments and the AU should deal with the issues of social integration of African People and should broaden their horizon to see and incorporate the ideas and aspirations of the people beyond their political agendas. This is achieved only when they began to give concern for the issues of their people, particularly for the youth. The young people of this continent constitute the majority of its human resource both for this very moment and even for the future. And it is the main segment of the society up on which all the social, political as well as the economical crisis of the continent are manifested.
• The issue of having a social integration process from ‘with in’ can also lead us into a very important point i.e. our educational policies through which our young people and young children are brought up. Our continent and its people have a very long and ancient civilization and history across the time line. We can mention the deeds of our forefathers who have fought the then colonizers with a great courage and determination, who have constructed and maintained different social institutions whereby peoples of the continent are administered in their own ways. But beyond all these facts about ourselves, we always focus on the historical process of the outside world without giving at least the considered necessary focus on the achievements and deeds of our people in our educational curricula. How can we develop a sense of African identity in the minds of the younger generation without honoring our own historical facts? We believe that if began to respect our cultural and historical identity of being African it will African youth: taking the past to the future pass to the minds of the coming generation. And we propose that each and every African country should re-examine its education curricula and the focus that we give in building African identity through our education systems.

Generally speaking if we do not start to look into ourselves once again, we will be losers of all the worldwide processes and phenomena that we will be encountered with. We need to achieve a meaningful social integration across the continent and we [young people] should demand our governments to facilitate such forums regionally as well as sub-regionally. Our continent, Africa is not an entity by itself; it is not the mountains or the rivers, the jungles or the natural resources that makes it so, it is truly its people that make it Africa, a continent, and its young people by enlarge. It is only when we began to give value for its people, particularly for the youth that we began to be genuine Africans. Creating platforms and forums for the youth and supporting its initiatives to do so is the simplest thing that we can do for the young people of this continent. And all the efforts that we make should become free from any kind of political programs of any country because the social commitments are far beyond meaningful than the political commitments of a politician. A means towards our vision Among the very opportunities that we African Youth have at this very moment, we can mention the newly adopted African Youth Charter which really considers most issues that should be considered regarding any youth related activities throughout the continent. The African Youth Charter is developed with a meaningful participation of African youth: taking the past to the future youth representatives from the continent with a series of consultation meetings at the continental level as well as at a national level. The charter is believed to be a framework referring to the rights, freedoms and duties relating to youth in Africa; and basic and legal document to support development of appropriate policies, programmes and activities. As it is stated on the promotional materials from AU about the charter, the African Youth Charter is useful for the development of the African Youth as:

•  Frameworks to guide, inspire, and validate youth organizations and actions
• To provide AU Member States with a framework for youth development policies and provisions and
• To empower youth to take advantage of these provisions
• To ensure effective participation of African Youth in the debates and decision making about development for Africa
• To guarantee African Youth participation in national, regional and continental programmes on a regular and legal basis
• To build and reinforce African young leaders

The Charter enshrines various rights, duties and responsibilities regarding African Youth and their meaningful participation in the development process of the continent. But beyond all that is stated in the charter, we African Youth should believe in ourselves to create a bright future for ourselves and for African People at all. To have such a determination we need to look into ourselves since if we do not know who we are, what we have and where we are coming from it is hardly possible to envision ourselves in the time line for the future. To have a very perfect written document regarding the youth is not an end by itself, what matters most s its applicability and the adherence of Member States towards the Charter and the activities of the youth in demanding its rights as well as its duties and responsibilities. Our participation in the development process of the continent should not be limited to the paper works of different institutions and government officials rather we [African Youth] should take the initiative for the realization of our visions and aspirations. One thing that we should bear in mind about the African Youth Charter is that even though it is adopted at the 7^th Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Banjul, Gambia in July 2006 and officially launched at the Fifth African Development Forum (ADF - V) in November 2006 in Addis Ababa; it is yet to be fully enacted across the continent since it should be ratified by at least 15 Member States. The legal process at the national level requires the following steps i.e. signing of the Charter by each Member State at the AU Commission, ratification of the Charter by the appropriate government body of each Member State (Parliament) and finally popularizing the Charter and entering into force for implementation in every Member State. African Youth should demand our respective governments for the ratification of the Charter since it will definitely help us in having a legal document with a very rational ground to act up on. We can use the Charter towards our objective of realizing social integration across the continent particularly with regard to the youth whereby African Youth will take the leading role in transforming our continent and its people into the future through a real sense and spirit of being African.

Finally, what we need to remember is that ‘what we focus on becomes our reality’ – and if we give due priority for what we already have i.e. the social capital across the continent with rich social values and norms, social institutions embedded in our society, cultural and historical heritages of our people are the very significant resources where we should lay our foundation towards the transformation of our continent and African People by in large.

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