activism - YUVA

Community Development Initiatives: YUVA’s Role in Building a Better Tomorrow

In Mauritius’s vibrant landscape, community development initiatives play a pivotal role in shaping a brighter future for its citizens. Among the key players driving positive change is YUVA Mauritius, an influential NGO dedicated to advocacy and empowerment across the island. Through its unwavering commitment to social progress and sustainable development, YUVA Mauritius has emerged as a beacon of hope, catalysing transformative initiatives that resonate far beyond its borders.

YUVA Mauritius’s commitment to community development is exemplified through its focus on empowering individuals and fostering sustainable change. By providing educational support to underprivileged children, organising youth-led programs, and promoting environmental initiatives, YUVA Mauritius creates opportunities for individuals to thrive and contribute meaningfully to their communities. Through targeted interventions that address the specific needs of each community, YUVA Mauritius ensures that its initiatives have a lasting impact on the lives of those it serves. By empowering individuals with education and skills, YUVA Mauritius not only uplifts them but also strengthens the social fabric of Mauritius, creating a more resilient and inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About International Youth Day 2023

As we near International Youth Day 2023 on 12 August, it is essential to become mindful of this year’s theme – “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World”. This theme puts emphasis on the impact up-and-coming generations can have when it comes to sustainability and protecting our environment.

This day encourages young people worldwide to develop skills to help be part of sustainable actions to protect our planet and build brighter futures for themselves.

Major Challenges Faced by NGOs in India and How They Overcome Them

In recent years, we’ve seen an exponential rise in the number of NGOs in India dedicated to serving humanity and uplifting disadvantaged communities. However, despite their noble mission and immense dedication towards helping others, these organisations face a plethora of complex challenges.

From difficulty obtaining funds for their work to inadequate infrastructure support, Non-Governmental Organisations are constantly striving just to survive – let alone thrive – within India’s unpredictable environment. To learn more about the hurdles faced by these courageous men and women, as well as how they go about overcoming them, keep reading!

LGBTQ+ Situation in Mauritius: A 2021 Report

Despite existing anti-discriminatory legislation and rising acceptance among Mauritius’ population, specifically the younger generation, the Mauritius LGBTQ+ community continues to endure discrimination in their personal lives, workplaces, and society.

This is primarily due to conservative beliefs and the stigma associated with homosexuality in Mauritian society.

65 Needy Children of Suburbs Receive School Materials

Organised by YUVA Port Louis, today morning 65 needy children of the suburbs have benefited from school materials at Centre de Rencontre (Ex-Marché de la Butte).

YUVAN Veronique Labonte led this project by targeting the needy children by conducting surveys and groundwork in the suburbs of Port Louis.

Present in the event, YUVA national president Krishna Athal seized the opportunity to thank all volunteers who participated in the #EducationForAll campaign, which was conducted by YUVA since the last three months.

YUVA donates school materials at Port Louis

Samuel Nasralla: A critical review of ”Athal,K. 2015. Ramrajya: Chapter 7: Good Governance

This chapter focuses mainly on good governance; different definitions, similar techniques and some comparison within the Mauritius model. The chapter starts with wondering if there is one definition for good governance or not. But before, he was stating that good governance can be just a term without any implementation, whereas this is kind of reality as people would talk about good governance and just idealize it but then never do any practical implementation of good governance. He refers that people just talk about good governance because they are apathy about their country and they feel they are weak to do any changes. Apathy is the root cause to kill good governance, if citizens themselves didn’t feel responsible for their countries and communities who would feel responsible then? He refers to the definition of good governance according to one of the worlds’ biggest development organization such as World Bank defined good governance as the manner in which power is exercise in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development. The World Bank has been referred as one of the key players to make sure that good governance has been practiced not just a term. Therefore we should put in consideration its definition of how good governance related to the economic and social resources for the country. The chapters also refers that the term good governance wasn’t mentioned before 1990’s but then there was an approach for several international organization to direct the term as because they realized the vast resources that African countries have. The thing about international organizations that sometimes it serve a certain agenda, so I am not sure if the writer should have used those organization as a standard of how good governance should be or not. Since that international organization would serve a hidden agenda, we would be in the middle of not trusting their words or even procedures. Getting back to good governance, he refers that good governance is directly related to the development happening in the country, so they are both directly related to each other. We also have to pay careful attention to the administration hand in the government as this the one responsible for acting the good governance acts. By controlling and giving more empowerment to the administration part of the government would ease the process of good governance implementation. One more important pillar for good governance as mentioned by GDCR that good governance should be able to identify and respect differences within the community, they should not only make one rule for everyone but instead to make a huge umbrella that can take different people along the same line. But still here lies some responsibility on the citizens themselves, as they need to compromise a little bit for the benefit of the general rule of the country. Good governance to be modeled should have civic engagements and civil society as this the main outlook you would be looking for, this tells a lot about how a good governance society behaves.

We now move to maybe a second part of the chapter, we start talking now about some principles that need to be followed in order to ensure good governance given by the United Nation Development Program. We start by legitimacy and voice for sure stating that we should have a legalized channel in which people can vote freely without any interruption from external factors. It is also mentioned that we should pay more attention to women in Mauritius not just by telling them they should vote but there is more into this by telling them why they should vote by empowering them and let them know how important are they to the government and they are helping in the development of their own country that would benefit their children in future. Some techniques and mechanics should be followed in order to settle good governance such as accountability and transparency

I admire how the book have started with definitions of good governance and then went all up to techniques and mechanisms. It was also very beneficial that the book modeled Mauritius and showed real life examples and compared to what should be done in good governance. But I still was lacking some information of the political life in Mauritius so I couldn’t relate so much with what’s going on. The chapter didn’t mention any other success stories from other countries followed a good governance model, even though he mentioned that each country is different and has its different circumstances but I thought it would be interesting and benefited just to know how different countries approached the model in different ways and maybe learn more creative ways.

YUVA and Special Olympics Mauritius sign MoU to Promote Intellectually-Disabled Mauritians in Sports

For YUVA the creation and promotion of the concept of Generation Unified is a priority.

YUVA and the Special Olympics Mauritius (SOM) signed an MoU this afternoon with the purpose to seek mutual partnership between the two parties to create and promote the concept of Generation Unified where people with and without intellectual disabilities come together through Special Olympics Mauritius sports programmes and the engagement of Mauritian youth.

Areas of collaboration

Introducing and supporting exchange programmes between the two parties for the benefits of children and adults with and without intellectual disabilities to exchange information, knowledge and expertise;

Engage in dialogue and initiate capacity building to facilitate the integration of persons with intellectual disabilities in the professional and social life;

Engage in youth empowerment to create a disabled friendly environment; and

Encourage the concept of Generation Unified through networking and social media strategies.

YUVA and Special Olympics Mauritius both proclaim their unanimous support and affinity to each other with the vision of a disability-inclusive society where everyone are valued on equal basis.

About Special Olympics Mauritius

President: Mr. Jean Marie Malepa
National Director: Mr. Satyagan Sinha Choytun
Responsible for Youth Activation: Kritish Kumar Nudurchand

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Special Olympics Mauritius advocates for the respect, empowerment and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities of all ages including youth. SOM aims at investing in youth to become leaders and change makers who will have a collective ability to break stigma and transform their communities. At its level, SOM has developed a youth forum where issues relating to youth with intellectual disabilities are discussed and solutions are found.

Volunteer as Photographer

Photography serves to define the window through which we view, interpret, and communicate our societal ideals and problems. It guides our understanding of beauty and pain, of joy and sorrow, of accomplishment and struggle. A photograph can be a call to action, or a call for contemplation. Photographs are capable of altering our perception of the world that surrounds us every day.

We believe that a single image can define our organisation and convey our mission to the public in a manner that no other medium is capable of doing alone.

Do you want to give back to the World by volunteering your time and services to help us? By connecting with our needs and your passion of photography, we shall be a powerful team whereby you will gain experience and exposure while we shall gain professional quality imagery to use within YUVA.

Images may be worth 10,000 words, but the best ones leave you speechless.

Humans are visual. We rely heavily on our sense of vision to guide us through life. Our emotions and judgment are permanently intertwined with our visual senses. It is through imagery that photographers attempt to build connections with the audience. Likewise, it is through the use of imagery that YUVA will build a connection with its audience. We firmly believe that the power of imagery to make these connections cannot be underestimated.

Who we’re looking for

YUVA is looking for experienced amateurs, semi-professional, and professional photographers living in Mauritius who are willing to volunteer their skills to assist National and Local projects. All photographers must at a minimum have a DSLR camera and a kit lens.

Why you should join

The one thing that joins all photographers regardless of skill level is a love for the challenge inherent in creating an image. By volunteering with YUVA you will get the chance to work with a non-profit organisation on a wide variety of projects – each of which will present unique challenges and opportunities in an environment that encourages the development of your own artistic vision. By becoming our volunteer photographer your photography projects gain a new purpose by directly supporting your community and our causes. We work to ensure that all our photographers are given complete access to the people and events that they photograph thus creating new educational opportunities that will make anyone a better photographer.

What you agree to

As a photographer for YUVA, you are responsible for creating quality images on projects which you are working. In general, we expect our photographers to deliver a minimum of 100 pictures during a project. Photos should be submitted in a maximum period of 48 hours.This gives us a variety of images to select from for use in their social media campaigns, marketing materials, brochures, fund raisers, etc.

Your rights

By agreeing to photograph for YUVA you are granting us a worldwide, irrevocable editorial license to use your photographs in support of our mission. YUVA will give credit to you as the original creator of the images for all uses of your work. As the photographer, you retain all copyrights to your images taken during any of the events that you shoot.

Excited to change the World through your DSLR? Please fill out the form below

LGBT Rights in Mauritius: Mauritius Youth Parliament, Session 2

This house believes that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights in Mauritius are legally complicated and vague.

Although the law is silent on the topic of homosexuality and gender identity itself, sodomy is illegal and banned by the laws of the county. The nation was one of the 66 signatories of support for the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, although same-sex relationships are not recognised, LGBT people are protected from any kind of discrimination with the constitution guaranteeing the right of individuals to private life.

Laws about same-sex sexual activity

According to the Section 250 of the Mauritius Criminal Code of 1838, “Any person who is guilty of the crime of sodomy […] shall be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 5 years.”

The age of consent in Mauritius is 16. Article 249 ‘Rape, attempt upon chastity and illegal sexual intercourse’ of the Penal Code: (…) Any person who has sexual intercourse with a female ‘under the age of sixteen (16), even with consent, shall be liable to penal servitude not exceeding ten (10) years.

Discrimination

The Equal Opportunities Act 2008 prohibits employers from discriminating against persons based on their sexual orientation, with “sexual orientation” being defined to mean “homosexuality (including lesbianism), bisexuality or heterosexuality”.

Adoption of children

According to a 2006 report, adoptive parents may be either single or married. LGBT persons are not specifically disqualified.

According to a website of the French government, single and married people are eligible to adopt children. The website does not say whether LGBT people are disqualified.

LGBT rights organisations

In Mauritius, there are several organisations for the LGBT community.

Founded in 2005, Collectif Arc en Ciel (“Rainbow Collective”) is the primary organisation for the LGBT community in Mauritius. The party fights homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Founded in 1996, Pils is a centre for individuals with HIV/AIDS in the country, and also a place for the prevention and education of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Founded in 2014, the Young Queer Alliance is a youth-led organisation mainly for support, empowerment and protect the young LGBTQIA in Mauritius.

Founded in 2011, Association VISA G is an organisation mainly for Transgender people in Mauritius. VISA G is involved in legal support and empowerment of Trans.

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity legal	However anal sex is illegal punishable with 5 years imprisonment.
Equal age of consent
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only	Since 2008
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (Incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)
Same-sex marriages
Recognition of same-sex couples
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples
Joint adoption by same-sex couples
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military
Right to change legal gender
Access to IVF for lesbians
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples
MSMs allowed to donate blood

Invitation

YUVA invites you to attend the debate on this whole issue of LGBT Rights in Mauritius as the topic for the Session 2 of Mauritius Youth Parliament (MYP).

Facebook cover: LGBT Rights in Mauritius, Mauritius Youth Parliament, Session 2

Poster: LGBT Rights in Mauritius, Mauritius Youth Parliament, Session 2

Note to participants

You can use the language you are most comfortable in;
Disagreements are bound to occur during the debate, but make sure you respect others’ point of view;
The session will be photographed and photographs will be posted on public online forums; and
You can send your questions on this topic by commenting below in this post.

Interventions: Animal Welfare, Mauritius Youth Parliament

Questions: Mauritius Youth Parliament, Session 1

Le 25 septembre, YUVA organise un atelier pour trouver des solutions pour améliorer la qualité de vie de nos animaux .

C’est fini l’époque où les animaux n’étaient appréciés en fonction de leur utilité. Désormais, ils éveillent en nous de vraies émotions et nous sommes nombreux à les considérer comme faisant partie de la famille. Qu’est-ce qui suscite en nous cet amour pour ces petits êtres sans défense? C’est peut-être le fait que nos animaux domestiques nous donnent un amour inconditionnel et peut importe qui est son maitre, son animal l’idolâtra. Si l’humain peut devenir l’ange gardien d’un animal il est également son ennemi. Regardez donc autour de vous, si un enfant dit adorer les chiens, certains adorent taquiner les chats en tirant leurs oreilles ou en écrasant leurs queues. Combien de fois avons-nous arraché les ailes des mouches sans états d’âme? Selon Freud, « l’enfant est un pervers polymorphe qui fait feu de tout bois pour satisfaire ses pulsions ». Cependant, en grandissant, ils changent et traitent bien les animaux car ils trouvent en eux des amis. Malheureusement, si Maurice est connu comme l’ile paradisiaque, il ne l’est pas pour la race canine.

Question 1

Doberman, American Staffordshire et autres molosses sont considérés comme étant dangereux. Cependant, malgré l’interdiction d’importer ces chiens de races, on voit que les Mauriciens sont nombreux à vendre ces chiens sur les réseaux sociaux. Nous savons qu’entre 2012 à 2014 nous avons eu plus de 5 cas d’attaques contre l’homme. Le ‘Dangerous Dogs Bill’ avait prévu d’interdire l’importation d’une vingtaine de races, parmi le Rottweiller. Ce projet de loi parviendra-t-il à mettre fin aux attaques de molosses?

Qu’est-ce que les autorités concernées font pour renforcer les lois contre l’importation de ces molosses ?

Question 2

Nous constations que les Mauriciens sont nombreux à vendre toutes sortes de chiens sur Facebook. Parmi nous repérons les griffons, les Rottweilers, les Bergers Allemands et les Doberman. Or la majorité de ces personnes n’ont pas de permis et ne nourrissent ces animaux dans de mauvaises conditions. Le frais d’enregistrement pour 1-5 chiens est à Rs 10 000, 6-10 chiens à Rs 25 000 et plus de 10 à Rs 100 000. Les éleveurs sont nombreux à ne pas avoir un permis et en conséquent les autorités n’arrivent pas à faire un suivi sur les conditions de vie des chiens.

Ne croyez-vous pas que si les autorités concernées baissaient le cout de ce frais d’enregistrement, plus de personnes auraient respecté la loi en ayant leur permis d’éleveurs comme la loi le recommande?

Question 3 et 4

La MSAW enfreignent toutes les lois sur le respect des animaux, sans exception. Des chiens errants, capturés aux quatre coins de l’île, sont poussés hors de fourgonnettes à coups de jets d’eau glacée dès leur arrivée à la fourrière. Ils sont ensuite entassés en meutes dans des niches insalubres, où ils attendront durant trois jours la mort. Pire encore, la mise à mort des chiens est réalisée avec une extrême brutalité. Le gouvernement avait aboli l’euthanasie, et promu une nouvelle politique pour l’éradication des chiens errants en ligne avec les pratiques internationales. Malheureusement, après les dernières élections, le ministre du Tourisme et le ministre de l’Environnement ont décidé de rétablir l’euthanasie, et ont lancé une vaste campagne d’éradication.

Est-ce que l’euthanasie est une solution pour éradiquer le problème des chiens errants? Que fait le gouvernement pour cesser ces pratiques barbares envers les animaux ?

Question 5

La majorité de nos chiens errants ont un maitre qui les a abandonnés. Les statistiques disent qu’il y a une population de 57 000 chiens errants et que parmi 20 % ont des maitres qui les laissent se promener librement dans les rues. Certains maitres les abandonnent carrément sur le parking d’un super marché ou dans un endroit retiré.

Pour mettre fin à ce problème, le gouvernement ne devrait-il pas mettre une loi pour obliger les propriétaires des chiens à déclarer leurs animaux de compagnie?

Question 6 et 7

En 2014, le Ministère de l’Agro Industry avait fait un projet pilote « Mauritius Humane Dog Population Management ». Dans ce projet, les autorités concernées voulaient collaborer avec les différentes ONG pour faire une grande campagne de stérilisation à travers l’ile. Ce projet incluait de recruter plusieurs vétérinaires afin de les former pour aller dans plusieurs districts pour stériliser les animaux.

Combien de nouveaux vétérinaires a-t-on recruté dans le secteur public?

Ce projet parlait également de trouver un car automobile équipéé de tous les matériels adéquats pour bouger dans la localité des propriétaires étant donné que certaines personnes ne peuvent pas se déplacer dans les différents centres pour stériliser leurs chiens?

Est-ce que projet a été mis en place? Combien de chiens a-t-on stérilisé jusqu’à présent?

Question 8

Nous savons que PAWS recueille les animaux pour lui trouver un foyer. Est-ce que la MSAW en fait de même ou tue-t-elle tous les chiens capturés?

Nous savons que sur les réseaux sociaux, une bonne poignée de personnes sont en train de chercher des familles pour les chiens errants spécialement les chiots.

Est-ce que les autorités ne devraient-ils pas encourager ces personnes en les fournissant l’aide nécessaire incluant de la nourriture ou des vaccins gratuits en attendant que ces personnes trouvent un foyer pour les animaux?

Question 9

Malgré la campagne intensive Save Our Monkeys lancée par la British Union Against Vivisection (BUAV) à Maurice, la vente de singes aux laboratoires étrangers pour les besoins de la recherche médicale ne ralentit pas. En 2014, de janvier à juin 4 918 macaques ont été exportés. Entre janvier et juin 2010, 3 088 primates ont été exportés pour une somme totale de Rs 367,5 millions, soit une moyenne d’environ Rs 120 000 par animal. L’exportation de singes pour des recherches médicales se font notamment en France, Italie, Allemagne, Canada, Mexique, Singapour, Espagne, le Royaume-Uni et Etats-Unis. Ils sont attrapés par la queue ou les pattes et balancés dans une cage ; d’autres sont tatoués sans anesthésie ou se font enfoncer des aiguilles dans les paupières… Ce serait là le traitement infligé à des macaques dans une ferme mauricienne.

Que compte faire les autorités pour donner un meilleur traitement aux singes?

Question 10

Il faudrait savoir que Maurice n’a pas seulement un problème de chiens errants mais également de chats errants qui finissent souvent sous les roues des voitures. Un couple de chats non stérilisés peut engendrer une descendance de plus de 20 000 chats en quatre ans? À PAWS les chats sont nombreux à attendre qu’une famille les adopte. Ce qui est difficile car arrivé à l’âge adulte, les chats ont des difficultés à s’habituer à un étranger.

Nous parlons de stérilisation des chiens, qu’est-ce que les ONG et le gouvernement fait en ce qui concerne les problèmes de chats errants?

YUVA Petit Raffray Distributes Clothes to Needy People

YUVA launched it’s anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used clothes from individuals, civic & corporate organisations, then distributing those clothes to needy and disadvantaged people. (Venue: YUVA Petit Raffray)

Enhancing Youth-Elder Alliance in Governance in Mauritius

YUVA Dialogue 2015 is being held tomorrow at Port Louis. This is inline with the commemoration of the International Youth Day 2015 in Mauritius. YUVA has invited YUVANs, school and university students, members of local NGOs and the press to debate on the topic, “Enhancing Youth-Elder Alliance in Governance in Mauritius”.

Youth constitute the majority of the population on the African continent. This forum explores the convergence of traditional (Mauritian Tradition) and modern ways of social engagement in political governance interactions. It discusses the imperative for youth participation in governance, as well as the challenges and opportunities for dialogue between youth and elders in governance systems. It will also discuss cultural norms that have prevented the development of collaboration between youth and elders, as well as the consequences of constricted relationships, for example the entrenchment of elders as leaders.

1) The imperative for youth-elder collaboration in governance

“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?” — Plato, 4th Century BC (Guardian, 2009)

A 2012 study of youth across Africa published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and cross-checked by the Africa Governance Institute (Africa Governance Institute) captures a range of African youth perspectives on governance;

56% of African youth are interested in current affairs. Urban youth have a higher level of interest than rural youth.
Less than 1⁄4 of African youth surveyed think their country is a full democracy, and less than 1⁄2 are satisfied with their democracy.
While a majority of youth believes that violence is not justified in politics, 75% of those surveyed do not exclude the adoption of non-conventional forms of political action (including violence) if their socioeconomic situation is not improving and their political voice is not heard.

80% of young people do not consider emigrating abroad as a relevant solution, and all insist on the fact that the conditions of their social, political and economic integration need to be established in their respective countries and in Africa.

2) Eldership as leadership

The following proverbs show that leadership is generally considered the responsibility of elders who have accumulated years of life experience. These experiences, ostensibly, are the requisite competencies required for public office. The cultural notion of leadership as the responsibility of older individuals is reflected in the structure of several contemporary governance systems:

“A young man standing cannot see what an old man will see sitting down.” — Igbo, Nigeria

Meaning: Elders are guided by the wisdom of experience and, therefore, will always have advantage over the young.

“An Okro plant cannot grow taller than its farmer.” — Creole, Sierra Leone

Meaning: The youth (Okro plant) is planted by the farmer (elder) to whom it owes its existence and sustenance. Thus, the youth cannot be greater than the elder.

“When a kid goat bends down, it sucks from its mother’s breast.” — Swahili

Meaning: Youth are admonished to defer to elders, and reap the reward of nurturing.

3) Inhibited communication

“When the elderly person is doing things wrongly, things that are destroying or capable of destroying both the old and the young, both the present and future generations, the young is expected not to question that action even though he or she would be affected in the consequences of the wrong actions of the elder/leaders.” — Rajesh B. (Mauritius, 2015)

“We live in a country infested by young people, we live in a country where our leaders do not want to be challenged, questioned and called to order by the younger population. We live in a country where the culture and respect card gets used every time young boys and girls call their leaders to order, we live in a country where our leaders use ‘culture’ and ‘respect’ to keep the youth silent and limited.” – Aneesha Bibi Z. (Mauritius 2015)

As a result of inhibited youth expression, youth voices are faint in the structures of governance, and can be ignored by elders. Also, young individuals who attempt to criticise governance systems, failures or actions can be discredited and disgraced. Youth who dare to confront elder leaders may find themselves cast as cultural offenders, and violators of the hallowed tradition of respect.

4) Social Media and Political Expression

Social media has allowed youth to voice opinions and, to some extent, engage with elders in governance. It has been reported that there are 100 million active Facebook users in Africa (TechCrunch, 2014).

How far do you agree that young people of Mauritius are utilizing social media to improve the accountability of political leaders?

The current generation does not want to be treated as the ‘other’. They want to be engaged, they want to talk, they want to contribute. Is the Government of Mauritius doing enough to endorse Internet access and the usage of smart phones?

5) Setback and frustration in governance

“If the world has one picture of African statesmen, it is one of rank corruption on a stupendous scale. There hardly seem any leaders who haven’t crowned themselves in gold, seized land, hand over state businesses to relatives and friends, diverted billions to foreign bank accounts and generally treated their countries as giant personalized cash dispensers”. – Moyo, 2009, p.49

Note: This discussion topic has been adapted from Ms. Ify Ogo’s (PhD Candidate, Maastricht University) presentation at the MINDS Annual African Youth Dialogue 2015.

MINDS Dialogue 2015: What’s the Point of Being a Youth?

Every youth has a duty to be a responsible citizen. But unfortunately, not many of them take this responsibility seriously. And that’s the downfall of the youth community.

Writing this article, right now, from the conference room of MINDS Dialogue 2015 is giving me inspiration to be a bit more aggressive in my arguments and thoughts. To start with, let’s go through some facts and figures.

35% of the population of the African continent is young people. Besides, African Union has projected that by the year 2020, 3 out of 4 people in Africa will be on average 20 years old. A 2012 study of youth across Africa published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and crosschecked by the Africa Governance Institute captures a range of African youth perspectives on governance;

56% of African youth are interested in current affairs. Urban youth have a higher level of interest than rural youth.
Less than 1⁄4 of African youth surveyed think their country is a full democracy, and less than 1⁄2 are satisfied with their democracy.
Less than 1⁄2 of youth have confidence in the honesty of elections.
Since 2000, youth voter turnout has declined in most countries, except Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Cape Verde.
In some African countries, youth have more confidence in the military than in government.
While a majority of youth believes that violence is not justified in politics, 75% of those surveyed do not exclude the adoption of non-conventional forms of political action (including violence) if their socioeconomic situation is not improving and their political voice is not heard. The highest percentages of young people sharing this position are in the countries of North Africa, Central Africa and West Africa.
80% of young people surveyed do not consider emigrating abroad as a relevant solution, and all insist on the fact that the conditions of their social, political and economic integration need to be established in their respective countries and in Africa.

MINDS Annual Youth Dialogue 2015

The Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS) is a continental institute that seeks to address the short, medium, and long-term development challenges in Africa in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

MINDS hosted its 2015 annual African Youth Dialogue on Elections and Governance from 7 – 8 August 2015 in in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The aim of the Youth Dialogue’s is to foster the increase in the number of young people peacefully and actively participating in African elections and governance processes based on an appreciation of the significance of their demographic superiority. It is therefore a useful platform through which African youth have an opportunity to interact as they interrogate and deepen the understanding of issues of mutual interest pertaining to the development and transformation of the Continent.

I’ve been lucky enough to represent Mauritius this year in this gathering. Participants have been drawn from all regions of Africa (North, West, Central, East and Southern Africa) using set criteria.

The critic and way forward

MINDS Dialogue 2015 is not the first and only gathering of young people that has been organised since the beginning of this year in Africa. And every time the conclusion is that we have to include youth in decision-making and to fight back the elders – or the “grey heads”, as you might call it – so that they accept and respect us in every level of management and governance. In the words of Plato (4th Century BC), “What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”

Analysing the whole scenario from a different angle, i believe that we, the young people of Africa, are fighting an external war instead of first securing our weapons. Our weapons, here, would be to build up a solid, and more important a sustainable, reputation.

We do not need to request or fight elders to accept us. We need to excel to such a level that there would be no other choice for any system to adopt us.

Here i would quote Muhammad Iqbal, who once said, “Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai.” (TR. “Elevate yourself so high that even God, before issuing every decree of destiny, should ask you: Tell me, what is your intent?”)

If you’re a young African, and you are passionate about doing business, then become the best businessman. If you’re an academic, be the best. If you’re a cleaner, be the best at your work. This is how an identity of the whole community is created. It’s a concept of branding – you build an organisation by positioning it and giving it a personality. It’s high time to shift from immature, irresponsible and untrustworthy branding to that of a responsible, innovative and trustworthy youth African community.

If you want the right thing, my dear young friend, then start doing the right thing!

-KRISHNA ATHAL
President of YUVA

YUVA

Youth United in Voluntary Action

Tag: activism