The African Youth Charter (AYC) was adopted on 2 July 2006 during the 7th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, held in Banjul, The Gambia. Its ten year anniversary is celebrated during 2016, as part of the African Union Year of Human Rights. The main celebration centres around 30 years since the entry into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on 21 October 1986. A consultative meeting to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the AYC took place on 11 May 2016 at the Women’s Gaol Lekgotla, Constitutional Hill, Johannesburg. The coordinator of the Child Rights Unit of the Centre for Human Rights, Alina Miamingi, attended the event focusing on the AYC.

The event was organised by the Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA), member of the State of the Union (SOTU), which is a coalition of African civil society organisations operating in ten African States. The meeting brought together various stakeholders for the purpose of assessing the impact of the AYC on the realisation of human rights of young people across the continent.

Opening remarks were made by Mr Okeke Anya, Chairperson of the SOTU Coalition Governing Team (CGT). He noted that the AYC can be used by the youth as a tool for pushing their agenda more effectively when approaching government officials and that the knowledge of the AYC’s provisions can enhance their chances of being heard.

The first speaker, Mrs Lebogang Chaka, Chairperson of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute Alumni Forum, talked about youth participation towards the achievement of the AU Agenda 2063. In her speech - full of wisdom derived from African proverbs - she stressed the importance of an inter-generational dialogue as well as the acquisition of knowledge by the youth as a prerequisite for the realisation of Agenda 2063’s aspirations. The speaker considers that ‘the power to realise Agenda 2063 lies in the youth actively translating it to their everyday walk…’ In her opinion, Agenda 2063 is ‘already being lived’ by millions of youth across the continent who actively participate in the process of changing their communities.

The Youth Advisory Centre Coordinator for the City of Johannesburg, Mr Bhekani Thusi, pointed out the ways in which the municipality is willing to assist and support the youth in achieving the aspirations of the Agenda 2063. He reminded the audience that 30% of the budget at the city level is allocated to youth development. The Youth Advisory Centre offers support for small companies to make progress; it offers assistance for youth from poor backgrounds to get a certificate or employment by connecting the youth to various companies and organisations in need of qualified people. The Youth Advisory Centre is also involved in providing apprenticeship for youth from townships, in various fields such as construction, ICTs, plumbing and security, in accordance with the societal demands.

The third speaker, Ms Lerato Phasha, eloquently talked about the dichotomy between the African identity and the constitutional democracy in South Africa. According to her, the South African society is still very patriarchal in nature, to the detriment of women, children and youth who have no voice and, therefore, cannot participate in society and cannot benefit from the constitutional democracy. There seems to be a disconnect between ideology (laws, instruments and policies) and the reality on the ground with respect to the issue of human rights in South Africa; there is a gap between the African culture and the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The youth seems to be unable to reconcile the two.

The three speeches were followed by a question and answer session where the participants, a majority of whom belonged to the neighbouring townships, raised issues related to drug problems, youth participation, drop-outs, culture preservation, gender equality, child headed households, youth development, and a sense of disconnect between South Africans and the rest of the continent. Some of these concerns were addressed by the three panellists who suggested that South Africans must find a balance between being proud of their African identity and cultural heritage without neglecting their human rights enshrined in the Constitution as well as in various regional instruments such as the AYC.

As part of the afternoon session, the SOTU coalition coordinator, Ms Osai Ojigho provided the participants with an overview of the coalition’s mission, namely: to ensure that citizens are aware of their human rights; to equip them with the necessary skills, tools and support in order to enable them to take hold of their rights; to keep governments accountable; to link youth together for the purpose of progress; to monitor policies in 14 spheres relevant to the citizenry, amongst others. She also explained the need for a charter dedicated solely to the youth: in the African context, youth are silenced and considered children even after reaching 18 years of age. As a consequence, they also have no representatives in government. Despite the fact that South Africa was among the first countries to ratify the AYC, 10 years after ratification the youth face the same challenges as before. The speaker encouraged the youth to use the AYC as a tool when approaching the government. Given the fact that Africa has 200 million youth between the age of 15 and 35, the coalition coordinator believes that the youth can transform the continent if they are using the right tools. They must educate themselves in order to be able to speak for themselves. They must know their Constitution as well as the provisions of various instruments such as the AYC.

On his turn, Mr Mohamed Naeim, the Project Development Officer of the African Union Foundation, focused on the importance of youth on the continent. The African Union gives special attention to youth. One of the ways in which it does that is the creation of the African Union Youth Volunteers Corps, a continental platform focusing on youth participation. The programme recruits, trains and deploys youth in 54 countries across the continent and is devoted to enhancing Africa’s human development, empowering youth to become agents of change, and promoting a spirit of pan-Africanism. One of the challenges of the program is represented by insufficient funding. These inter-African missions target various spheres of interest such as education, agriculture, health, peace and security, business and ICT.

During the questions and answers session the participants voiced some of their concerns related to unemployment, state accountability, the environment, the absence of a treaty body to monitor the implementation of the AYC and the fact that South Africans feel disconnected from the African Union and from the rest of Africa. In their response, the two panellists spoke about the popularisation of the AYC through art such as drama and competitions, already done at SOTU. They also stressed the fact that African governments should allocate about 10% of budget to agriculture. Coupled with that, there is a need for transparency and accountability of resource allocation. Traditional leaders, imams, pastors and other religious leaders should pass to their congregations the message of a united Africa.

The closing remarks belonged to Mr Junior Sikhwivhilu, from the South African SOTU’s Project Office. He emphasised the need for review, for taking stock and holding governments accountable concerning the AYC’s provisions. He also referred to the SOTU’s campaign entitled ‘My African Union’ through which citizens are invited to call African governments to act on their promises with respect to the legal instruments they have adopted. He encouraged the participants to go online (myafricanunion.org) and take the pledge and become ‘the voice that acts, does, engages and speaks out’.