As mandated by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E, Moussa Faki, the African Union Youth Envoy published 2019/20 Action Plan. The Action Plan, under the Advocacy Model, seeks to mobilize the African Youth Charter (AYC) Hustlers, to lead continental, regional and national advocacy for the ratification and implementation of the Charter as well as the institution of effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
This is in line with the AUC’s 1 Million by 2021 Initiative, which seeks to provide opportunities for African youth in the game-changing areas of employment, education, entrepreneurship and engagement (4Es). Under the engagement pillar, the initiative seeks to create meaningful platforms for youth to drive change in their environments. The AYC Hustlers initiative provides an opportunity for youth-led advocacy and youth-led accountability and ensures results on continental commitments to their development.
The flagship initiative is spear-headed by the AU Office of the Youth Envoy (OYE), with the support of Youth Division of the AUC Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), and in collaboration with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), seeking to engage young Africans as African Youth Charter Hustlers. The AYC Hustlers initiative engages two mobilizers per country, one male and one female for a period of two years.
Cognizant of Africa’s burgeoning youth population, with over 75% of the continent’s population under the age of 35, the African Union (AU) has since prioritized the empowerment of young people as central to achieving the vision of Agenda 2063. The African Youth Charter, adopted in 2006, is a rights-based framework which guides the engagement and empowerment of youth in Africa, enshrines their rights, duties and freedoms and has spawned the action plans which have guided continental programming, most recently the African Plan of Action on Youth Empowerment (APAYE 2019-2023).
Article 28 of the Charter mandates the African Union Commission (AUC) to collaborate with governments, non-governmental institutions, and developmental partners to identify best practices on youth policy formulation and implementation and encourage the adaptation principles and experiences sharing.
In a similar vein, Article 26a calls for young people to be custodians of their own development. The AUC’s youth engagement strategy is centred on youth ownership of their outcomes, youth-led accountability, and building the capacity of young Africans to undertake these responsibilities.
Advocate for Action;
- Actively advocate for the ratification of the African Youth Charter by the 16 AU Member States who are yet to sign and/or ratify;
- Actively Advocate for the implementation by Member states of the African Plan of Action on Youth Empowerment (APAYE);
- Actively advocate for the implementation of the Charter in their countries, including the establishment of effective National Youth Councils (NYCs) where they are absent, the reaffirmation and strengthening of NYCs where they exist, and the establishment of progressive national youth policies and youth funds;
Promote Africa’s Model
- Document the best practices of AU Member States, and encourage sharing, replication and scaling up of these practices on youth inclusion and leadership informed by, and building on, the Status of African Youth Report;
- Promote policy formulation to increase youth involvement and participation in decision-making processes at all levels- political, social and economic spheres;
- Promote Pan-Africanism, Agenda 2063, African solidarity and intergenerational co-leadership