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NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme Established | 16 May 2008 |

Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 April 2006.  Participants from various African countries, who gathered here, 11-12 April 2006, formed a NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme, whose main objective is to build a cadre of young people who will raise awareness on issues of the Information Society and serve as active participants in building an inclusive Information Society in their countries and on the African continent.

Conducted by NEPAD e-Africa Commission - the advisory body of NEPAD Heads of States and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) on ICT related matters - in conjunction with Department of Communications, the meeting had aim of sharing views on the involvement of youth in ICTs.

Says Director General, Department of Communications, "The South African Government, and especially the Department of Communications places a lot of emphasis on ICTs as an enabler of development and sees the NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme as an opportunity to fulfill its dream of making sure the young explore the many ICT applications and uses".

A first for NEPAD, this meeting follows an earlier meeting by the same parties held, 27-28 June 2005, at Limpopo, South Africa, to engage African youth in dialogue on their involvement in the information society.

Says Dr Henry Chasia, the Executive Deputy Chairperson, NEPAD e-Africa Commission, "It is wonderful to have this programme because it is addressing a very important age group, the youth, who are the majority of Africans. Most of the programmes on NEPAD focus on the young people because we focus on the present and future."

Participants came from Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, South Africa, and Tunisia. The meeting was also attended by observers and the youth group.

"NEPAD e-Africa Commission is determined to ensure that the youth, through this programme, are empowered to articulate their contribution to the information society in order to reduce the digital divide", Dr Chasia added.

The meeting came up with NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme governance structures, roles, terms of reference and rules of procedures. A 3-year programme was agreed upon, which would be presented for adoption at the official launch of the programme that would coincide with the main NEPAD Youth Summit to be held in June 2006. The meeting agreed to foster partnerships with governments, business and civil society. The programme would be linked to the flagship NEPAD e-schools programme and Governments would form the programme focal points in their respective countries.

Programme Internet Portal Formed
The youth formed an internet portal for information sharing on matters such as career guidance, skills development, learning materials and funding mechanisms. The portal would also address health and poverty issues and would be in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic languages.

The youth said they would ensure success of the programme, working closely with their respective governments and NEPAD e-Africa Commission. "We need to go back and implement this innovative program and give pride to Africa. This portal will help us share our experiences, using ICT, across the continent", said Gladys Muthoni, one of the participants from Kenya.

The purpose of the NEPAD ICT Programme (NEPAD e-Africa Commission) is to accelerate development of ICT infrastructure, and impart ICT skills. It is also intended to bridge digital divide in Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world.

Ends

For more information, please contact:
Samuel Mikenga
Communications Manager,
NEPAD e-Africa Commission
Pretoria, South Africa
Tel: 0725 296 769 (mobile)
Tel: 012 841 4523 (office)

 

African Youth Commitment on the Information Society
‘The Limpopo Commitment'
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Limpopo, South Africa, 27, 28 June 2005

Preamble
We, the African youth of Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, gathered at Limpopo from 27 - 28 June 2005, for the NEPAD Youth Conference on Information Society;

Noting that we constitute the majority of the population of our countries, and that we are the leading creators and earliest adopters of ICT;

Inspired by the vision of integrating African youth into the global Information Society;

United in our belief of the need for the youth of the continent to play a leading role in the growth and social development of Africa as a whole, and to influence positively the global ICT agenda for development;

Concerned by the disparities and asymmetrical distribution of ICT resources that exist between countries and within countries and the resultant gap;

Recognising that today, more than ever before in history, the participation in the knowledge based global digital economy is fundamental to the socio-economic well being of the African;

Accepting that the renaissance of the continent has highlighted new terrains of struggle in which we should engage vigorously;

Recalling the Millennium Declaration in New York in September 2001 that "in order to reduce global poverty by half in 2015 "ICTs are central, enablers, cross cutting, and crucial tools for sustainable social and economic development";

Determined to be active participants in building the information society at local, national, regional, continental and global level;

Re-affirm that access to information that enables people to acquire knowledge as well as to communicate is a fundamental human right;

ADOPT this Commitment as a foundation for youth participation in the programmes that shall follow it, as it will be amended from time to time, and resolve to uphold the following principles:

Principles
• The principle of universal and equal access to ICT initiatives regardless of race, disability, gender, location, and association, is paramount.
• It is essential that youth play a central role in the creation of the Information Society.
• Youth should be afforded the opportunity to inform decision-making about the Information Society at all levels.
• Cognizance should be taken of the promotion of local culture and language, and of the fostering of cultural diversity.
• The promotion of a culture of solving our own problems as Africans is necessary.
• Africans should not only be consumers of content, but creators and exporters of content, including ideas and solutions.
• Solutions should be informed by the needs of communities.
• The importance of ICTs as a tool for development should be reflected in national spending plans as well as those of donors.
• Networking the youth should be recognized as a powerful means of solving Africa's problems.

Outcomes
The conference has led to the creation of a report on our concerns about the challenges facing the development of the Information Society in Africa, and our suggestions and our role in resolving these challenges. Examples of the suggestions on resolving these challenges include:

• Projects engaged by stakeholders should be based on the needs of the communities into which these projects are deployed.
• We see a role for ourselves as youth, with knowledge of and no fear of ICTs, to lead the awareness-building activities in communities.
• The way of thinking of our peers needs to be revolutionized to embrace the multifaceted development benefits of ICTs.
• We see a role for ourselves to be involved in massive voluntary peer education in ICTs, particularly in rural communities and pro-poor urban areas.
• We see the need to empower youth activists to form a network to actively push for faster development of policy and infrastructure in Africa.

Moving forward
We finally resolve to continue our activities in discovering the concerns of our peers, and to identify our role in developing the Information Society.
• A working group will be appointed to develop a plan of action to resolve the concerns which arose at the conference and to act on our suggestions.
• A web site will be created to allow us to continue to interact as a group of young Africans to discuss new concerns and suggestions, and to report back on our activities and successes in our various countries.
• We shall strive to ensure that the concerns of African youth are made prominent within the second phase of the WSIS.
• We shall endeavor to create a network of African youth activists who advocate the development of an inclusive Information Society based on our principles.