Dear Young people of the Commonwealth and across the world, As we are blessed to witness yet another new year, I want to congratulate all of you and wish you a happy and healthy new year. This is usually the time we celebrate the end of a year and the beginning of another, it is a season of rising hopes and new expectations. The year 2014 is a year for peace and unity, it is a year young people will renew our commitments towards advancing youth development agenda. 2013 had been with so many challenges and opportunities, let us learn from those challenges and build on the opportunities presented, the year 2013 was very historical as it was the year that young people of the Commonwealth came together to chart a new beginning by constituting and electing the inaugural executives of the Commonwealth Youth Council. This has given the youth more hopes and confidence that, with this powerful platform, the young people’s interest and voice will be effectively represented and amplified respectively in the years ahead.
The year 2014 is the year for Youth; it is the year young people will rise to play an integral role of rebuilding economies and nations. Young people are agents for progressive development and major assets of every society. With our vigour, creativity and intelligence, young people are central in every positive change. In this year, young people will seek for proper inclusion in governance, and adequate support in Education and Entrepreneurship. The present and future prosperity of the world lies on the youth, and empowering us is a way of ensuring a safer and a more prosperous world.
I would like to use this opportunity to call on young people to be more united and become active citizens in our societies. I equally urge youth to embrace entrepreneurship, as it is one of the ways of tackling youth un-employment. We will continue to advocate for support and sponsorship to young entrepreneurs. I will encourage young people to venture in business that meet market demands. Similarly, youth shall use this New Year to renew our perceptions about Agriculture, as it is one of the major employment provider and way of earning a decent living.
As representatives of young people in the Commonwealth, we will always listen to you and involve you actively in everything we do, and we hope you will support us in achieving our shared vision for empowering and engaging young people in the Commonwealth. The CYC will partner and engage all youth development stakeholders and initiatives that aimed to empower young people in the Commonwealth and beyond. I wish you a very fruitful and blessed new year. Thank you, Ahmed Adamu, Chairman. - See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/new-year-message-by-the-chairperson-of-commonwealth-youth-council-cyc/#sthash.WcyiwzrS.dpuf
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Monday, 30 December 2013
COMMONWEALTH YOUTH COUNCIL CONDEMN KILLING OF STUDENT IN KATSINA, NIGERIA
The Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) has condemned the shooting to death of 22 year old student Umar Ali-Dodo in Katsina allegedly by a soldier at a military checkpoint.
A statement issued by the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council Ahmed Adamu yesterday expressed concern over the “loss of lives of young people” describing it as “completely avoi-dable.”
Last Thursday, Umar, who was a student of the Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, Katsina fell to the bullet of a soldier when the driver of a vehicle carrying him tried to overtake a truck at the checkpoint along Katsina-Dustin-Ma road, Batagarawa local government area.
The Youth Council demands an investigation of the incident and for justice to be done.
“The security personnel are supposed to protect lives and properties of all citizens. It is against humanity to shoot against unarmed civilian. The soldiers at the check point would have identified the car and its registration number, or pursue the vehicle instead of firing a gun shot,” Adamu said in the statement. - See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/commonwealth-youth-council-condemn-killing-of-student-in-katsina-nigeria/#sthash.3AjzOoL4.dpuf
A statement issued by the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council Ahmed Adamu yesterday expressed concern over the “loss of lives of young people” describing it as “completely avoi-dable.”
Last Thursday, Umar, who was a student of the Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, Katsina fell to the bullet of a soldier when the driver of a vehicle carrying him tried to overtake a truck at the checkpoint along Katsina-Dustin-Ma road, Batagarawa local government area.
The Youth Council demands an investigation of the incident and for justice to be done.
“The security personnel are supposed to protect lives and properties of all citizens. It is against humanity to shoot against unarmed civilian. The soldiers at the check point would have identified the car and its registration number, or pursue the vehicle instead of firing a gun shot,” Adamu said in the statement. - See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/commonwealth-youth-council-condemn-killing-of-student-in-katsina-nigeria/#sthash.3AjzOoL4.dpuf
Sunday, 29 December 2013
CYC CALLED FOR MORE SUPPORTS TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS
The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), Ahmed Adamu called on commonwealth member states to invest more on young entrepreneurs in order to create more employment and promote economic growth, the call was made during the African Youth Summit, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda from December 18 – 22, 2013. The summit was organized by the Rwanda Students Association in collaboration with the International H.O.P.E. and Rwanda Federal Ministry of Education.
In his words, ‘In order to support African young entrepreneurs, there should be enabling economic policies, ranging from credit facilities, low taxes, low interest rates etc. There should also be simplification of the procedures and bureaucracy of becoming an entrepreneur, and there should be a special support to Small and Medium enterprises. There should also be education and training in the area of entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs should be supported from their local governments at the grassroots. There should also be an economic/market research in Africa to identify the markets needs and economic gaps. There should be free labor mobility within the continent in order to address the problem of structural unemployment.”
Mr. Ahmed Adamu was in the Summit as a special guest, panelist and inspirational speaker; he emphasized on the potentials of young people as agents of progress and development, and urged the youth to be opportunity entrepreneurs that innovate business ventures in order to meet up with the market gap. While admonishing the young people to develop and use their skills and talents constructively, he said: “we, the youth, have to realize our potentials, we are the strength and proud of every society, we make everything happens. We have the energy, creativity, talents, and we are not corrupt. Youth have the exuberance and can dedicate time to do better things.” The Summit was well attended by the Rwanda President who was ably represented by the Minister for education, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Nigeria, permanent secretaries, young people from over 30 African nations and other important personalities.
Part of the CYC Chairperson’s activities while in the country included: meeting with the Rwanda’s National Youth Council’s Executives and visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial site. He called on the Commonwealth youth to learn good lessons from the peace and reconciliation model adopted by Rwanda in order to enjoy more tolerant societies among the Commonwealth nations and the world at large.
The CYC is planning a country visit to Rwanda with at least two youth delegates from every commonwealth nation to witness the physical transformation in the country and appreciate the Rwandis for supporting peace and tolerance among themselves. This will also give opportunity to learn more from the Rwanda’s model for social reconciliation and peace building, and to hear directly from genocide survivals and visit the genocide memorial.
- See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/cyc-called-for-more-support-to-young-entrepreneurs/#sthash.DpyP4maI.dpuf
In his words, ‘In order to support African young entrepreneurs, there should be enabling economic policies, ranging from credit facilities, low taxes, low interest rates etc. There should also be simplification of the procedures and bureaucracy of becoming an entrepreneur, and there should be a special support to Small and Medium enterprises. There should also be education and training in the area of entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs should be supported from their local governments at the grassroots. There should also be an economic/market research in Africa to identify the markets needs and economic gaps. There should be free labor mobility within the continent in order to address the problem of structural unemployment.”
Mr. Ahmed Adamu was in the Summit as a special guest, panelist and inspirational speaker; he emphasized on the potentials of young people as agents of progress and development, and urged the youth to be opportunity entrepreneurs that innovate business ventures in order to meet up with the market gap. While admonishing the young people to develop and use their skills and talents constructively, he said: “we, the youth, have to realize our potentials, we are the strength and proud of every society, we make everything happens. We have the energy, creativity, talents, and we are not corrupt. Youth have the exuberance and can dedicate time to do better things.” The Summit was well attended by the Rwanda President who was ably represented by the Minister for education, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Nigeria, permanent secretaries, young people from over 30 African nations and other important personalities.
Part of the CYC Chairperson’s activities while in the country included: meeting with the Rwanda’s National Youth Council’s Executives and visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial site. He called on the Commonwealth youth to learn good lessons from the peace and reconciliation model adopted by Rwanda in order to enjoy more tolerant societies among the Commonwealth nations and the world at large.
The CYC is planning a country visit to Rwanda with at least two youth delegates from every commonwealth nation to witness the physical transformation in the country and appreciate the Rwandis for supporting peace and tolerance among themselves. This will also give opportunity to learn more from the Rwanda’s model for social reconciliation and peace building, and to hear directly from genocide survivals and visit the genocide memorial.
- See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/cyc-called-for-more-support-to-young-entrepreneurs/#sthash.DpyP4maI.dpuf
Friday, 27 December 2013
CYC agitates for agric funding
The Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) has called on all commonwealth heads of governments to provide of more funding to the agricultural sector to help revitalise and modernise the sector by providing contemporary agricultural facilities. Chairperson of the council, Comrade Ahmed Adamu, in a statement last weekend said the CYC will chase for increase in budgetary allocation for agricultural sector. “Agriculture has been a major provider of employments to large number of young people in commonwealth countries, but this sector needs to be modernised in many of these countries so as to make it attractive to young people. “As the sector is been modernized, new equipment and facilities will be introduced, the CYC will ensure that youth are properly trained on how to make use of these facilities, and they will be sensitized on the potentials of the sector in changing their lives,” he said. He said the sector has lost its prestige in the eyes of so many young people due to its traditional nature. Adding that investing in all value chains of agriculture will create millions of job opportunities to teaming unemployed young people in the commonwealth countries. According to him, the CYC through the regional, national and local youth structures will identify the youth that need support in agriculture. This, he assured, will include youth that are already into agriculture and those that want to join the sector, while relevant business collaborations and sponsorship will be facilitated to empower these young people. - See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/cyc-agitates-for-agric-funding/#sthash.zCkjFhp5.dpuf
Thursday, 19 December 2013
THE 2 SPEECHES OF AHMED ADAMU (CYC Chair) AT AFRICA YOUTH SUMMIT HELD IN KIGALI, RWANDA FROM 17 TO 22 DECEMBER, 2013. THE THEME OF THE SUMMIT WAS "SELF RELIANCE FOR AFRICA'S PROSPERITY"
19th December, 2013.
The major African problem is lack of economic independence resulted from a commodity based economy. African economy produces more of raw materials than finished products. Africa has the highest potential in agriculture, energy and mineral resources, yet imports most of its foodstuff, energy, and other required economic ingredients. This has weakened the Africa’s economic autonomy and reduces its hard currency earnings leading to devaluation of its currency exchange rate against other currencies. It is important to note that Africa is responsible for many western and European countries’ economic prosperity. Africa contributes to the economic growth of other countries through travels, investments, banking, education, debt services, visas, money transfers, cheap labor etc
If Africans will save the money they spend to travel abroad for leisure, and the money they spend to pay exorbitant tuition fees, and invest that within their continent, they can build the best tourist sites and best universities in the world, and they would have empowered their teaming youth population. Let all Africans come home and build the continent; they should not let others use their brains to build their own economy at the expense of African prosperity. Let Africans be proud and patronize their own brands/products.
Africans should engage in opportunity entrepreneurship not necessity entrepreneurship. Opportunity Entrepreneurs are those that innovate business ventures to meet up with market demands, they look for problems or gap in the market and try to fill in the gap, and this boost the economy and create more employment opportunities. While necessity entrepreneurs are those that engage in any business to sustain themselves, they duplicate and condense the market resulting to lower prices and lower profit, and making the economic growth even lower.
There are bunches of opportunities and potentials in Africa ranging from the fertile lands, unlimited energy resources, and most importantly the abundance of active human labor. The memory of Mandela is not far away, and we all celebrate his life, because he fought for freedom and equality, our generation will not fight for freedom because we are all free, but we can be celebrated like Mandela if we become successful entrepreneurs. The commonwealth Youth Council will be awarding success young entrepreneurs as an encouragement.
In order to support African young entrepreneurs, there should be enabling economic policies, ranging from credit facilities, low taxes, low interest rates etc. There should also be simplification of the procedures and bureaucracy of becoming an entrepreneur, and there should be a special support to Small and Medium enterprises. There should also be education and training in the area of entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs should be supported from their local governments at the grassroots. There should also be an economic/market research in Africa to identify the markets needs and economic gaps. There should be free labor mobility within the continent in order to address the problem of structural employment.
20th December, 2013 (the second speech)
The Chairperson presented an inspirational speech. His speech was titled “How to have stronger African economy and better African youth”. Below is the summary of his speech (his words):
“I want to start my speech with sharing my dream for Africa; I have seen three types of Africa in a near future. I have seen Africa being the leading global economy, I have seen Africa where the whole world is proud and longing to come and pursue dreams, and I have seen Africa where youth are the major drivers of the democracy and economy.
For Africans to achieve this dream, we have to be self-reliant, which is the theme of this summit. To be self-reliant, we need to have the sense of pride, we have to believe in Africa and ourselves as Africans, and we have to stop looking up to others, we have to be ourselves and promote our culture and the values we stand for. We must be responsible for our natural resources, and process it within our continent. Any external company that wants to buy our resources, it has to process it within the continent. Governments must invest hugely on the processing and manufacturing industry to enhance economic independence and create employment. The African governments shall stop giving scholarships to study abroad, the money should be saved to build world class standard universities in the continent, or ask the international universities to build their campuses across Africa.
Africans can achieve this considering the fact that Africa currently feed the world, and contribute toward empowering the global industrial sector. Africa meets large percentage of the global energy demands. Africans contribute hugely to economic development of other countries through tourism, education, banking and finance, travels, etc. If we can redirect all our resources toward building our own economy, we can be more than we can ever imagine.
We shall not listen to the cynics that told us we cannot, we shall not let any external force to create division among ourselves, we have so many things in common more than our differences, we shall come together and salvage our continent, we shall think more of our plight and how to solve them by ourselves.
Unfortunately, nowadays, Africans are xenocentrics who think that their own lifestyles, products, or ideas are inferior to those of other cultures. Look at all of us here, only few of us wear cloth that symbolizes our cultural heritage, most of us here including me wear someone’s traditional cloth. Another challenge we face is the use of foreign language at our primary level of educations. Mandela once said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart” this means that teaching a child in his mother’s language is best way to make him understand the concept. English can be introduced to enable students communicate to the rest of the world but not as a language for educational instructions. We have to discard many of the existing educational curriculums and introduce new ones that address our own peculiar societal challenges and opportunities. Let us have our own African international television, let us control what Africans see on their televisions sets, so that we can promote our own cultural values and promote our brands.
It is equally disheartening how we Africans allowed ourselves to be divided, look at what is happening in South-Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, you will see Africans killing Africans, a brother killing brother, neighbor killing neighbor. Have you ever seen a European killing European? we have to start wearing eyes that sees commonness than differences, ears that listens to good than bad, bodies that do right than wrong, and hearts that forgives than avenges.
We have to start identifying and talking about our own problems and seek for way forward. Youth are the hope for the future Africa we dream, and we will lead this revolution. Now I will talk about our own problem as youth: is not everybody that will agree if I say some of the African youths are lazy and greedy, trying to get rich easily and quickly and anyhow. We have to learn to be brave and pursue greatness through integrity and honesty. Look at Mandela, he is not remembered because of his richness, he was remembered because of his honesty, integrity and excellent traits. If his life taught us anything is that, life is about honesty not wealth. That is why Commonwealth Youth Council has launched the Mandela annual Youth award for young people that follow the footsteps of Nelson Mandela. We should stop competing against ourselves but against the world. We shall shun away from Nepotism and selfishness. I will give you my personal story, there was a time I contested for the chairman of a local government youth council in my community, but I was told that I am not the preferred candidate because I know too much. You can imagine, I was disqualified because of my competence. Where else in the world could you imagine a person being disqualified for being more competent? Now I am standing here today speaking to you as the leader of the world’s largest youth organization, the world have seen something in me that people in my own community could not have the eyes to see. My elections was tough and was based on competence, and I am sure I was able to convince more than 1.2 Billion young people of the commonwealth to give me this mandate. Now the world is benefiting from my qualities, and I was never given that equal opportunity in my own community. So this is one of the African problems, we have to encourage and empower our intelligent and competent young people instead of frustrating them. The African youth have to be united, the more united we are the more powerful we can be to compete against the world and shape every democratic and economic decision in our continent.
We, the youth, have to realize our potentials, we are the strength and proud of every society, we make everything happens. We have the energy, creativity, talents, and we are not corrupt. Youth have the exuberance and can dedicate time to do better things. Look at me now, every single day I read and reply many emails, without getting tired, do you think an old person can be dedicative like that? look at Obama, he was elected at the age of 47, which means that he was given so many chances and opportunity at younger age, which we, the African youth do not enjoy similar treatments. Recently, a young man at the age 27 was appointed a foreign minister in Austria, isn’t that a good thing, youth have to be given the chance, how could they be good and capable leaders if they are not prepared now?
Finally, I want to call on the youth to be more united, and remember to be good ambassadors of Africa wherever they are and at whatever capacity. for example, by holding this position I realized that I am carrying four images, the image of myself, the image of my race, the image of my country and the image of African continent, and whatever I do will have great impact on how the world perceive Africa and African youth.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
INTERVIEW: Commonwealth Youth Council will unite youth structures in Nigeria, others- Chairperson
The CYC chairman outlines his organisation’s agenda.
Ahmed Adamu was elected as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council on November 12 in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. He spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on how his position would benefit the Nigerian youth, as well as his other plans.
PREMIUMTIMES: Congratulations on your election. Tell us about the Commonwealth Youth Council and your new responsibilities.
Well, thank you. Emerging as the first-ever Chairman of the world largest youth-led organisation could not be an easy thing. Imagine leading over 1.2 billion young people from 53 different countries, and from different ethnic, regional, and economic backgrounds; it definitely puts me in a position of huge responsibility and expectations.
Being the first commonwealth youth leader, we have to learn things, then work it out, and then improve on that, and the fact that we have only two years, we have to learn fast and work harder to achieve the desired result.
The Commonwealth Youth Council, CYC, was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments in line with the Commonwealth Charter. It was established to play an integral role in advancing the youth development agenda and the co-ordination of activities and policies of the Commonwealth in the field of youth. The council shall work for and represent the voice of all young people within the commonwealth. CYC is the largest and most diverse youth-led organisation in the world. It is the recognised voice of more than 1.2 billion young people of the Commonwealth and it provides a framework for youth-led development initiatives.
How do you think this would impact on an average Nigerian youth?
First, I will say it has given every young Nigerian a sense of pride and inspiration. Seeing your brother rising to lead young people at a global level, it is a plus to Nigeria and Nigerians. As a Nigerian, I am always aware of the images I am carrying; I am carrying the image of myself, my race, my country and my continent. I will do my best to give an excellent impression of the constituencies I am representing. The Commonwealth Youth Council has lots of plans for young people, we have put in place different mechanisms to support young people in different capacities, and I want to assure Nigerians and other Commonwealth youths that we will use our influence to change the lives of millions of youths. The CYC is empowered primarily by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments, and with the support from every head of government, we shall be able achieve lots for the Commonwealth youth.
What is your agenda?
The immediate things we are preparing to do – like in the next one or two months – include the country advocacy tour. We would wish to visit every Commonwealth country, but going round the whole 53 nations in two years may not be possible considering the enormous responsibilities we also need to embark on; but we will go round as many of these countries as possible.
The purpose of the advocacy tour is to have the opportunity to meet with the youth leaders and the youth, and hear from them. They will tell us what they want us to do for them, and what are the concerns or agitations they want us to advocate on their behalf. We will then study their National youth organisation structures. If there is any crisis within the national youth leadership, we will interfere and resolve it. We will then meet the president of the country to brief him/her and advocate what the youth want. It will give us the opportunity to establish direct relationship with the government of the country and create room for partnerships and support.
During the visit we will also visit some youth development projects. This is important for the annual Commonwealth Youth Award of Excellence, CYAE, where the CYC will nominate Heads of Governments for the CYAE. The youth decide who the awards should go to; we have different award categories.
We also have a very fantastic youth programmes and projects, which we are compiling now. They are within the areas of health and reproductive issues, democracy and good governance, education, ICT, Entrepreneurship, etc All of these require huge amounts of money, and we will partner with all relevant stakeholders to achieve our mutual objectives. We may not completely implement all these, but I am sure building a foundation for the CYC is something that will go down in the history of commonwealth youth.
What do you think are the major challenges the Commonwealth Youth are faced with and how can they be tackled?
Young people constitute more than 60 per cent of the Commonwealth population, and they are the highest percentage with regards to vulnerability, poverty and insecurity. The youth are the hope of the present and the future, and to have a secure future Commonwealth, we need to know their problems and how to solve it.
I will now speak from my personal experience, the major youth problems are lack of quality education, quality employment, and professional skills. Once you give the youth the required education, and provide them with competitive and lucrative employment opportunities or train them on different professional skills, you have empowered them.
Presently, an online youth survey is going on to hear directly from the Youth on what they think are the first six steps to improving their lives. This is done by the United Nation to hear the opinions of people, so that the global leaders would be informed as they begin the process of defining the new development agenda for the world. I encourage young people to fill in the My World global survey.
What is your expectation of the Commonwealth heads of state on youth?
Every two years, Commonwealth heads of governments meet, and they pay good attention to youth concerns. At the end of the meeting, they adopt youth commitments, which they would all agree to implement in their various countries. Our primary expectation of them is to implement these commitments, in addition to the Youth declaration, which is another document adopted by young people identifying their concerns and suggesting the way forward.
So, CYC as an advocate for young people would follow up to see that these two documents are implemented in every Commonwealth nation. As I mentioned, the CYC was established by the commonwealth heads of governments in line with the Commonwealth Charter, and the heads of governments agreed to support the CYC. We expect to partner and help the heads of governments in achieving their objectives in the field of youth developments.
What is your advice for the Nigerian government on youth empowerment?
My advice is to do more for the youth, Nigeria is one of the leading countries in terms of supporting young people, but the number of young people in the country is many. So you would still find majority of the young people without employment. But, as the government is doing more, private partners should complement its efforts. The situation would then be improved.
I must commend the Nigerian government for initiating the YouWin programme, which I applied for at its initial run. I was not successful but lots of my friends benefited from it. It empowered them and they were able to employ many young people.
I also commend the Nigerian government for supporting the National Youth parliament and the council as well. Like I said, my advice is to do more, and engage more young people. I was happy to see that President Goodluck Jonathan appointed a young man as his Special Adviser on Youth and Students Matters; that is commendable. We also want to see young people being engaged by the parliamentarians and their states governors, and also see them included in National delegations to international events.
Do you need any support from the Nigerian government?
Yes, we will soon be visiting Nigeria for the country advocacy tour. I will also personally visit Nigeria to meet with the President and discuss how the Nigerian government should help the CYC so that the whole world would be proud of young Nigerians.
What advice would you like to give to the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN?
I think the problem with NYCN has to do with the youth themselves. Priority should be given to the system rather than the individual personalities. I recommend that the constitution be respected. I learnt that three different persons are addressing themselves as presidents of NYCN; who do want us to recognise? If we are giving support to the Nigerian youth, who is our focal point? Not only CYC, but other stakeholders who want to come and invest in the youth, who should they contact?
So, my initial advice to them is that they should resolve their differences as it would cost them and the Nigerian Youth in general.
We would set up a committee to study the whole issue and give us a report. We would then act objectively based on the committee’s report. One of the CYC primary responsibilities is to unite, consolidate and unify youth-led structures within Commonwealth nations. Some countries have similar problems like Nigeria; we will go and fix their problems. For countries, that do not have national youth bodies, we will partner with the governments of those countries to establish that. Our jurisdiction is to ensure every Commonwealth nation has a well-structured and organised youth leadership. Every country in the Commonwealth have signed and agreed to give the CYC the responsibility to ensure harmony and coordination of youth activities within the Commonwealth.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/151456-interview-commonwealth-youth-council-will-unite-youth-structures-nigeria-others-chairperson.html
Ahmed Adamu was elected as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council on November 12 in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. He spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on how his position would benefit the Nigerian youth, as well as his other plans.
PREMIUMTIMES: Congratulations on your election. Tell us about the Commonwealth Youth Council and your new responsibilities.
Well, thank you. Emerging as the first-ever Chairman of the world largest youth-led organisation could not be an easy thing. Imagine leading over 1.2 billion young people from 53 different countries, and from different ethnic, regional, and economic backgrounds; it definitely puts me in a position of huge responsibility and expectations.
Being the first commonwealth youth leader, we have to learn things, then work it out, and then improve on that, and the fact that we have only two years, we have to learn fast and work harder to achieve the desired result.
The Commonwealth Youth Council, CYC, was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments in line with the Commonwealth Charter. It was established to play an integral role in advancing the youth development agenda and the co-ordination of activities and policies of the Commonwealth in the field of youth. The council shall work for and represent the voice of all young people within the commonwealth. CYC is the largest and most diverse youth-led organisation in the world. It is the recognised voice of more than 1.2 billion young people of the Commonwealth and it provides a framework for youth-led development initiatives.
How do you think this would impact on an average Nigerian youth?
First, I will say it has given every young Nigerian a sense of pride and inspiration. Seeing your brother rising to lead young people at a global level, it is a plus to Nigeria and Nigerians. As a Nigerian, I am always aware of the images I am carrying; I am carrying the image of myself, my race, my country and my continent. I will do my best to give an excellent impression of the constituencies I am representing. The Commonwealth Youth Council has lots of plans for young people, we have put in place different mechanisms to support young people in different capacities, and I want to assure Nigerians and other Commonwealth youths that we will use our influence to change the lives of millions of youths. The CYC is empowered primarily by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments, and with the support from every head of government, we shall be able achieve lots for the Commonwealth youth.
What is your agenda?
The immediate things we are preparing to do – like in the next one or two months – include the country advocacy tour. We would wish to visit every Commonwealth country, but going round the whole 53 nations in two years may not be possible considering the enormous responsibilities we also need to embark on; but we will go round as many of these countries as possible.
The purpose of the advocacy tour is to have the opportunity to meet with the youth leaders and the youth, and hear from them. They will tell us what they want us to do for them, and what are the concerns or agitations they want us to advocate on their behalf. We will then study their National youth organisation structures. If there is any crisis within the national youth leadership, we will interfere and resolve it. We will then meet the president of the country to brief him/her and advocate what the youth want. It will give us the opportunity to establish direct relationship with the government of the country and create room for partnerships and support.
During the visit we will also visit some youth development projects. This is important for the annual Commonwealth Youth Award of Excellence, CYAE, where the CYC will nominate Heads of Governments for the CYAE. The youth decide who the awards should go to; we have different award categories.
We also have a very fantastic youth programmes and projects, which we are compiling now. They are within the areas of health and reproductive issues, democracy and good governance, education, ICT, Entrepreneurship, etc All of these require huge amounts of money, and we will partner with all relevant stakeholders to achieve our mutual objectives. We may not completely implement all these, but I am sure building a foundation for the CYC is something that will go down in the history of commonwealth youth.
What do you think are the major challenges the Commonwealth Youth are faced with and how can they be tackled?
Young people constitute more than 60 per cent of the Commonwealth population, and they are the highest percentage with regards to vulnerability, poverty and insecurity. The youth are the hope of the present and the future, and to have a secure future Commonwealth, we need to know their problems and how to solve it.
I will now speak from my personal experience, the major youth problems are lack of quality education, quality employment, and professional skills. Once you give the youth the required education, and provide them with competitive and lucrative employment opportunities or train them on different professional skills, you have empowered them.
Presently, an online youth survey is going on to hear directly from the Youth on what they think are the first six steps to improving their lives. This is done by the United Nation to hear the opinions of people, so that the global leaders would be informed as they begin the process of defining the new development agenda for the world. I encourage young people to fill in the My World global survey.
What is your expectation of the Commonwealth heads of state on youth?
Every two years, Commonwealth heads of governments meet, and they pay good attention to youth concerns. At the end of the meeting, they adopt youth commitments, which they would all agree to implement in their various countries. Our primary expectation of them is to implement these commitments, in addition to the Youth declaration, which is another document adopted by young people identifying their concerns and suggesting the way forward.
So, CYC as an advocate for young people would follow up to see that these two documents are implemented in every Commonwealth nation. As I mentioned, the CYC was established by the commonwealth heads of governments in line with the Commonwealth Charter, and the heads of governments agreed to support the CYC. We expect to partner and help the heads of governments in achieving their objectives in the field of youth developments.
What is your advice for the Nigerian government on youth empowerment?
My advice is to do more for the youth, Nigeria is one of the leading countries in terms of supporting young people, but the number of young people in the country is many. So you would still find majority of the young people without employment. But, as the government is doing more, private partners should complement its efforts. The situation would then be improved.
I must commend the Nigerian government for initiating the YouWin programme, which I applied for at its initial run. I was not successful but lots of my friends benefited from it. It empowered them and they were able to employ many young people.
I also commend the Nigerian government for supporting the National Youth parliament and the council as well. Like I said, my advice is to do more, and engage more young people. I was happy to see that President Goodluck Jonathan appointed a young man as his Special Adviser on Youth and Students Matters; that is commendable. We also want to see young people being engaged by the parliamentarians and their states governors, and also see them included in National delegations to international events.
Do you need any support from the Nigerian government?
Yes, we will soon be visiting Nigeria for the country advocacy tour. I will also personally visit Nigeria to meet with the President and discuss how the Nigerian government should help the CYC so that the whole world would be proud of young Nigerians.
What advice would you like to give to the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN?
I think the problem with NYCN has to do with the youth themselves. Priority should be given to the system rather than the individual personalities. I recommend that the constitution be respected. I learnt that three different persons are addressing themselves as presidents of NYCN; who do want us to recognise? If we are giving support to the Nigerian youth, who is our focal point? Not only CYC, but other stakeholders who want to come and invest in the youth, who should they contact?
So, my initial advice to them is that they should resolve their differences as it would cost them and the Nigerian Youth in general.
We would set up a committee to study the whole issue and give us a report. We would then act objectively based on the committee’s report. One of the CYC primary responsibilities is to unite, consolidate and unify youth-led structures within Commonwealth nations. Some countries have similar problems like Nigeria; we will go and fix their problems. For countries, that do not have national youth bodies, we will partner with the governments of those countries to establish that. Our jurisdiction is to ensure every Commonwealth nation has a well-structured and organised youth leadership. Every country in the Commonwealth have signed and agreed to give the CYC the responsibility to ensure harmony and coordination of youth activities within the Commonwealth.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/151456-interview-commonwealth-youth-council-will-unite-youth-structures-nigeria-others-chairperson.html
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Commonwealth Youth Council launches website
The digital face of the Commonwealth Youth Council was launched yesterday at www.commonwealthyouthcouncil.org The website is a hub of information and the first point of contact for the Council, which represents youth bodies from across the Commonwealth making it the largest and most diverse youth body in the world.“We welcome more organisations to join us as members so please register your interest with us through the website,” said the Council’s Chair, Ahmad Adamu, who was voted into office at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Sri Lanka in November 2013. He added: “The Council is the recognised voice of young people in the Commonwealth. We want young people to contribute to the discussions through their national and regional youth organisations and youth-led NGOs.”The Council will act as a vehicle for young people to share their views and take action on the global development agenda; advocate for governments to meaningfully engage young people in representation internationally; and act as a centre for information on youth development and empowerment. Youth bodies which are members of the Council will be able to partner with the Council to build knowledge on youth issues and deliver projects; receive endorsement; determine their country delegation to the Council’s General Assembly; and access financial support from the Council. The Government of Pakistan pledged US$100,000 to the Council at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November, to be used for youth-led development projects. The Council’s leaders are now developing its strategic plan. In the next year its Executive will visit Commonwealth countries to meet with young people and governments, to help forge ways for young people to have a stronger voice and contribute meaningfully to national development. Members of a Canadian youth body MYCommonwealth met with Mr Adamu yesterday at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters in London to discuss their mutual organisations and how they will work together. - See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/commonwealth-youth-council-launches-website/#sthash.aHKmF6ox.dpuf
CYC Chairperson hosts Canadian MYCommonwealth
The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), Ahmed Adamu, hosted a youth delegation from Canada at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on 11th December, 2013. The delegation came under the auspices of ‘MYCommonwealth (MYC)’, a recognised youth-led organization in Canada. The delegation included Alicia Swinamer and Fawzi Ghosn, Co-founders and National Directors of the MYCommonwealth Canada.
The deleagtion briefed the Chairperson on the history of MyCommonwealth and how they were able to be recognised as a youth representative body for Canadian young people on Commomnwealth issues. MYC is democratic, youth run and led, and is the single source for the views of Canadian youth on Commonwealth issues. MYC engage in public education campaigns to promote knowledge of the Commonwealth, its activities, values, member states and topical issues. Other issues discussed were how the MYC will work with the CYC. The MYC officials offered suggestions to the CYC on how to be inclusive and engaging especially in major decision makings.
The Canadians expressed regret for their absence at the just concluded Inaugural CYC General Assembly part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from November 15 – 17, 2013. The delegation requested the CYC to engage with the government of Canada and support the youth in creating a national youth council and ministry responsible for youth development in Canada.
It will be recalled that the Canadian delegation had proposed a motion to the CYC General Assembly that: “young people should be allowed to represent the interests of the Commonwealth youth at the apex decision making organ of the Commonwealth''. The motion was well received by delegates at the Assembly.
The MYC officials presented some Canadian gifts to the CYC Chair as a symbol of felicitation, in support of youth development in the Commonwealth.
The visit coincides the official lauch of the CYC website (www.commonwealthyouthcouncil.org).
- See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/cyc-hairperson-hosts-youth-delegation-from-canada/#sthash.f0BsyX6G.dpuf
The deleagtion briefed the Chairperson on the history of MyCommonwealth and how they were able to be recognised as a youth representative body for Canadian young people on Commomnwealth issues. MYC is democratic, youth run and led, and is the single source for the views of Canadian youth on Commonwealth issues. MYC engage in public education campaigns to promote knowledge of the Commonwealth, its activities, values, member states and topical issues. Other issues discussed were how the MYC will work with the CYC. The MYC officials offered suggestions to the CYC on how to be inclusive and engaging especially in major decision makings.
The Canadians expressed regret for their absence at the just concluded Inaugural CYC General Assembly part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from November 15 – 17, 2013. The delegation requested the CYC to engage with the government of Canada and support the youth in creating a national youth council and ministry responsible for youth development in Canada.
It will be recalled that the Canadian delegation had proposed a motion to the CYC General Assembly that: “young people should be allowed to represent the interests of the Commonwealth youth at the apex decision making organ of the Commonwealth''. The motion was well received by delegates at the Assembly.
The MYC officials presented some Canadian gifts to the CYC Chair as a symbol of felicitation, in support of youth development in the Commonwealth.
The visit coincides the official lauch of the CYC website (www.commonwealthyouthcouncil.org).
- See more at: http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/cyc-hairperson-hosts-youth-delegation-from-canada/#sthash.f0BsyX6G.dpuf
Sunday, 1 December 2013
WORLD AIDS DAY MESSAGE BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMONWEALTH YOUTH COUNCIL (AHMED ADAMU)
1st December, 2013.
1. World AIDS Day is a day dedicated by the international community to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and to demonstrate support for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS...
2. The theme for this year is getting to zero: Zero HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths
3. There are more than 5.4 million young people living with HIV in the world, and according to youth development index: on average, the prevalence of HIV amongst youth in commonwealth countries is 2.1%, two and half times the global average
4. Young people aged 15–24 accounted for 42% of new HIV infections. Among young people living with HIV, nearly 80% (4 million) live in sub-Saharan Africa
5. The CYC is concerned about the Sexuality and reproductive health rights of young people in the commonwealth.
6. Many young people in the Commonwealth do not have adequate access to information and services related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
7. The CYC would like to use the 2013 world aids day to advocate for more youth awareness on issues related to HIV/AIDS.
8. The Commonwealth Youth Council advocates for greater access to youth friendly health services in all member states.
9. We encourage all member states to increase investment in the creation and sharing of information on sexual and reproductive health rights.
10. We encourage other youth organizations to get involved and support all initiatives to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among young people.
11. The CYC will support and partner with governments and stakeholders willing to invest on youth health related issues.
12. We are calling for Heads of governments and other relevant partners to identify and act upon opportunities for young people to be engaged and mobilised on sexual and reproductive health and rights through all possible mediums, especially social media.
13. CYC is calling for an active engagement of young people in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV policies, services and programmes,.
14. Young people get involved, and let’s your voices be heard.
1. World AIDS Day is a day dedicated by the international community to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and to demonstrate support for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS...
2. The theme for this year is getting to zero: Zero HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths
3. There are more than 5.4 million young people living with HIV in the world, and according to youth development index: on average, the prevalence of HIV amongst youth in commonwealth countries is 2.1%, two and half times the global average
4. Young people aged 15–24 accounted for 42% of new HIV infections. Among young people living with HIV, nearly 80% (4 million) live in sub-Saharan Africa
5. The CYC is concerned about the Sexuality and reproductive health rights of young people in the commonwealth.
6. Many young people in the Commonwealth do not have adequate access to information and services related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
7. The CYC would like to use the 2013 world aids day to advocate for more youth awareness on issues related to HIV/AIDS.
8. The Commonwealth Youth Council advocates for greater access to youth friendly health services in all member states.
9. We encourage all member states to increase investment in the creation and sharing of information on sexual and reproductive health rights.
10. We encourage other youth organizations to get involved and support all initiatives to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among young people.
11. The CYC will support and partner with governments and stakeholders willing to invest on youth health related issues.
12. We are calling for Heads of governments and other relevant partners to identify and act upon opportunities for young people to be engaged and mobilised on sexual and reproductive health and rights through all possible mediums, especially social media.
13. CYC is calling for an active engagement of young people in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV policies, services and programmes,.
14. Young people get involved, and let’s your voices be heard.
Link to the Video Message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tCS_SNel-U
Thank you,
Ahmed Adamu,
Chairperson,
Commonwealth Youth Council
Marlborough House, London.
Thank you,
Ahmed Adamu,
Chairperson,
Commonwealth Youth Council
Marlborough House, London.
WORLD AIDS DAY MESSAGE BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMONWEALTH YOUTH COUNCIL (AHMED ADAMU)
1st December, 2013.
1. World AIDS Day is a day dedicated by the international community to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and to demonstrate support for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS
2. The theme for this year is getting to zero: Zero HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths
3. There are more than 5.4 million young people living with HIV in the world, and according to youth development index: on average, the prevalence of HIV amongst youth in commonwealth countries is 2.1%, two and half times the global average
4. Young people aged 15–24 accounted for 42% of new HIV infections. Among young people living with HIV, nearly 80% (4 million) live in sub-Saharan Africa
5. The CYC is concerned about the Sexuality and reproductive health rights of young people in the commonwealth.
6. Many young people in the Commonwealth do not have adequate access to information and services related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
7. The CYC would like to use the 2013 world aids day to advocate for more youth awareness on issues related to HIV/AIDS.
8. The Commonwealth Youth Council advocates for greater access to youth friendly health services in all member states.
9. We encourage all member states to increase investment in the creation and sharing of information on sexual and reproductive health rights.
10. We encourage other youth organizations to get involved and support all initiatives to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among young people.
11. The CYC will support and partner with governments and stakeholders willing to invest on youth health related issues.
12. We are calling for Heads of governments and other relevant partners to identify and act upon opportunities for young people to be engaged and mobilised on sexual and reproductive health and rights through all possible mediums, especially social media.
13. CYC is calling for an active engagement of young people in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV policies, services and programmes,.
14. Young people get involved, and let’s your voices be heard.
Link to the Video Message: https://www.youtube.com/
Thank you,
Ahmed Adamu,
Chairperson,
Commonwealth Youth Council
Marlborough House
Pall Mall, London
SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom
Website: www.commonwealthyouthcouncil.o
Email: chair@commonwealthyouthcouncil
Tel: +447867289539, +44 (0) 20 7747 6388
Video of the World AIDS day message by Ahmed Adamu
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Revisiting my seven points priorities: No. 7. Promotion of CYC image and Commonwealth Values
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO. 7: PROMOTION OF CYC IMAGE AND COMMONWEALTH VALUES:
PROMOTION OF CYC IMAGE AND COMMONWEALTH VALUES: The restructuring of commonwealth youth leadership is an excellent step toward promoting the image of commonwealth youth leadership in the eyes of the world. We commend the effort of the youth leaders that initiated the process and the Commonwealth Secretariat that supported it. Therefore, there is a daunting task upon us (if emerged) in ensuring that the efforts of our ancestors are not in vain. To do that, we are resolve to creating different platforms that will unite and involve all the youth in our decision makings.
i. LEGITIMACY AND FINANCIAL BASE:
We will facilitate for constitutional recognition of the CYC, and a clear legal frame within which different youth leadership platforms relates with the CYC. We will expand the financial sources of the council for its sustainability. This will be achieved through partnership, sponsorship, fundraising, CYC own business etc
ii. PROFESSIONALISM:
Professionalism and maturity is the major traits that will be adopted by all executive members to inspire and fascinate the world. Our activities and programmes will make the CYC the best international youth organization in the world.
iii. INTERNATIONAL RELATION:
The council under my leadership will track, involve and comment on major international issues that affect the youths in commonwealth countries, this is to project the power of the council and sensitize the general public on the relevance of involving the youth in addressing any national and international issues of concern.
iv. YOUTH ONLINE TV: We will maintain an online youth TV that will be showcasing different youth projects and programmes across the commonwealth countries (Kudos to Rahatul for initiating this project).
v. UNITY:
My leadership will advocate and insist for mutual tolerance, peace and equality among the youths irrespective of gender, ethnicity or religion.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
Vote Ahmed Adamu as CHAIRPERSON, Commonwealth Youth Council,
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO.6: Youth Employment
EMPLOYMENT: All the previously mentioned agendas are tailored toward guaranteeing youth employment which upholds youth development and independence. The commonwealth youth development index has reported poor working conditions, under-employments and absolute unemployment among the youth in many commonwealth countries. In order to guarantee quality youth employment and wellbeing, we proposed the following points:
i. PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP: Since we understood the fact that government alone cannot provide the required employment for our teaming youth, there should be private involvement in providing quality job opportunities. The CYC will make a survey, visit and appeal to multinational private organizations in order to convince them and partner with governments in creating and enhancing working conditions for the youth in the commonwealth.
ii. FREE LABOUR MOVEMENTS: Free movement of labour is critical for ensuring economic prosperity and reducing unemployment. More than 40% of unemployment in the world can be estimated to be a structural unemployment, which is the type of unemployment that occurs because some labour markets have more workers than there are jobs available, and for some reason wages don't decrease to bring the markets into equilibrium. Recommendations will be made to the commonwealth meeting of heads of governments in easing the transfer/hire of labour between commonwealth countries. It was reported that, large number of human labour is concentrated in regions where there is no or little demand for their services, but where there is demand for such services, the labour supply is very low. To tackle the labour market failure, commonwealth countries should lessen their immigration requirements and strictness to enable young people pursue their life goals and ambitions.
iii. JOB INFORMATION: In many commonwealth countries, one of the major causes of unemployment is lack of information. The CYC will agitate and chase for policy enactment through the office of the VICE CHAIR: POLICY AND ADVOCACY to compel all corporate and government organizations to publish their job opportunities and also make it available to job centres. Countries that do not have these job centres should be called to establish them or to create any other medium through which youth can access information about job opportunities that suit their interest and profession. Regional and National Youth leaders would be encouraged to monitor the process of employment in their countries to ensure fairness and transparency.
iv. DATABASE FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUTH: the CYC will make proposal to all commonwealth countries to create a database for unemployed youth. This will contain their background, education and work experiences. This will serve as indicator for the level and type of unemployment persistent in every country. It will also make it easy for employers to promptly have access to their potential employees; it will also reduce the period of stay before a candidate submits his/her information to employers.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http:// ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.co.uk /
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/411366385630182/
i. PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP: Since we understood the fact that government alone cannot provide the required employment for our teaming youth, there should be private involvement in providing quality job opportunities. The CYC will make a survey, visit and appeal to multinational private organizations in order to convince them and partner with governments in creating and enhancing working conditions for the youth in the commonwealth.
ii. FREE LABOUR MOVEMENTS: Free movement of labour is critical for ensuring economic prosperity and reducing unemployment. More than 40% of unemployment in the world can be estimated to be a structural unemployment, which is the type of unemployment that occurs because some labour markets have more workers than there are jobs available, and for some reason wages don't decrease to bring the markets into equilibrium. Recommendations will be made to the commonwealth meeting of heads of governments in easing the transfer/hire of labour between commonwealth countries. It was reported that, large number of human labour is concentrated in regions where there is no or little demand for their services, but where there is demand for such services, the labour supply is very low. To tackle the labour market failure, commonwealth countries should lessen their immigration requirements and strictness to enable young people pursue their life goals and ambitions.
iii. JOB INFORMATION: In many commonwealth countries, one of the major causes of unemployment is lack of information. The CYC will agitate and chase for policy enactment through the office of the VICE CHAIR: POLICY AND ADVOCACY to compel all corporate and government organizations to publish their job opportunities and also make it available to job centres. Countries that do not have these job centres should be called to establish them or to create any other medium through which youth can access information about job opportunities that suit their interest and profession. Regional and National Youth leaders would be encouraged to monitor the process of employment in their countries to ensure fairness and transparency.
iv. DATABASE FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUTH: the CYC will make proposal to all commonwealth countries to create a database for unemployed youth. This will contain their background, education and work experiences. This will serve as indicator for the level and type of unemployment persistent in every country. It will also make it easy for employers to promptly have access to their potential employees; it will also reduce the period of stay before a candidate submits his/her information to employers.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http://
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO.5: Youth Governance/leadership support.
Commonwealth youth constitute more than half of the commonwealth population, and they represent the future of the commonwealth. There is no doubt youth are leaders of today and tomorrow. Preparing and engaging young people in governance is an investment for future prosperity. Leadership is like a vehicle, you have to be trained before you can drive it. One of the core values of Commonwealth Youth Council is to ensure adequate youth inclusion in leadership, decision making and developmental issues. To ensure better youth participation in progressive development and proper leadership training, I propose to pursue the following agendas:
i. MINIMUM OF 30% YOUTH LEADERSHIP ALLOCATION: My leadership will vigorously appeal and chase for at least 30% allocation of political/leadership positions to youth across the commonwealth’s countries. This will help expose the youth to the leadership challenges and enable them acquire necessary leadership skills required for better governance in the future. This will comprise inclusion in ministerial appointments, international official delegations, appointments as aid to the heads of governments, involvement in political party structures and house of parliament, etc
ii. YOUTH PARLIAMENT: it is good that some commonwealth youth countries have already established Youth Parliaments in their countries. CYC under our leadership, will strengthen the sustainability and improvement of the programme, and ensure establishment of the YP in other countries that have not implemented yet.
iii. DEMOCRACY AT YOUTH LEADERSHIP STRUCTURES: Democracy shall be maintained at all levels of youth leadership, our leadership will ensure absolute democracy, fairness, and transparency at regional, national and local youth leadership structures. This will be done through youth leadership assessment committee that will observe and report on the democratic settings of youth leadership structures in every commonwealth countries.
iv. ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT WORKS: our leadership will push for improvement in budgetary allocations for youth development organizations and other related youth development projects. The CYC will ensure fairness and transparency in distributing these funds to the youth led organizations.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http:// ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.co.uk /
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/411366385630182/
i. MINIMUM OF 30% YOUTH LEADERSHIP ALLOCATION: My leadership will vigorously appeal and chase for at least 30% allocation of political/leadership positions to youth across the commonwealth’s countries. This will help expose the youth to the leadership challenges and enable them acquire necessary leadership skills required for better governance in the future. This will comprise inclusion in ministerial appointments, international official delegations, appointments as aid to the heads of governments, involvement in political party structures and house of parliament, etc
ii. YOUTH PARLIAMENT: it is good that some commonwealth youth countries have already established Youth Parliaments in their countries. CYC under our leadership, will strengthen the sustainability and improvement of the programme, and ensure establishment of the YP in other countries that have not implemented yet.
iii. DEMOCRACY AT YOUTH LEADERSHIP STRUCTURES: Democracy shall be maintained at all levels of youth leadership, our leadership will ensure absolute democracy, fairness, and transparency at regional, national and local youth leadership structures. This will be done through youth leadership assessment committee that will observe and report on the democratic settings of youth leadership structures in every commonwealth countries.
iv. ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT WORKS: our leadership will push for improvement in budgetary allocations for youth development organizations and other related youth development projects. The CYC will ensure fairness and transparency in distributing these funds to the youth led organizations.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http://
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
Monday, 4 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO.4 ICT
ICT: The modern civilization has turned the world to a global village where information and communication can be made prompt. Education and Business are now IT inclined. Therefore, to catch up with the modern world, youth need to be technologically acquainted, and should also learn how to make productive use of these opportunities. Strong and reliable internet accessibility enhances productivity and economic prosperity. If elected, we proposed the following programmes:
i. INTERNET ACCESSIBLITY: in many commonwealth countries, accessibility and quality of internet services has been a serious issue of concern. CYC under our leadership will appeal to governments, telecommunication companies and other service providers to improve the strength, reliability, affordability and sustainability of internet services in these countries. This will be achieved through a youth led dialogue with all the stakeholders in the sector in the affected countries.
ii. ICT TRAINING: many young people are not aware of how to make use of computer system or surf the internet. To carry these young people along, ICT and computer workshops/training will be provided especially in countries that are left behind in the sector.
iii. FREE DISTRIBUTION OF COMPUTER/ COMMUNICATION DEVICES: the CYC will seek for sponsorship and collaborations for provision of free computer sets and modern smart mobile devices to some less privileged and physically challenged young men and women.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http:// ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.co.uk /
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/411366385630182/
i. INTERNET ACCESSIBLITY: in many commonwealth countries, accessibility and quality of internet services has been a serious issue of concern. CYC under our leadership will appeal to governments, telecommunication companies and other service providers to improve the strength, reliability, affordability and sustainability of internet services in these countries. This will be achieved through a youth led dialogue with all the stakeholders in the sector in the affected countries.
ii. ICT TRAINING: many young people are not aware of how to make use of computer system or surf the internet. To carry these young people along, ICT and computer workshops/training will be provided especially in countries that are left behind in the sector.
iii. FREE DISTRIBUTION OF COMPUTER/ COMMUNICATION DEVICES: the CYC will seek for sponsorship and collaborations for provision of free computer sets and modern smart mobile devices to some less privileged and physically challenged young men and women.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http://
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
Sunday, 3 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO. 3 AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE: Agriculture has been a major provider of employments to large number of young people in commonwealth countries, but this sector needs to be modernised in many of these countries so as to make it attractive to young people. Agriculture has lost its prestige in the eyes of so many young people due to its traditional nature. Investing in all value chains of agriculture will create millions of job opportunities to teaming unemployed young people in the commonwealth countries. CYC under our leadership (if elected) proposes the following line of actions in order to support youth in agriculture:
i. BUDGETARY ALLOCATION: The CYC under our leadership will agitate for proper funding to the agricultural sector through the commonwealth heads of governments. This is to help revitalize and modernize the sector by providing contemporary agricultural facilities. The CYC will chase for increase in budgetary allocation for agricultural sector.
ii. AGRICULTURAL SKILLS TRAINING: as the sector is been modernized, new equipment and facilities will be introduced, the CYC will ensure that youth are properly trained on how to make use of these facilities, and they will be sensitized on the potentials of the sector in changing their lives.
iii. CREDIT FACILITIES: the CYC through the regional, national and local youth structures will identify the youth that need support in agriculture. This will include youth that are already into agriculture and those that want to join the sector. Subsequently, relevant business collaborations and sponsorship will be facilitated to empower these young people.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http:// ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.co.uk /
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/411366385630182/
i. BUDGETARY ALLOCATION: The CYC under our leadership will agitate for proper funding to the agricultural sector through the commonwealth heads of governments. This is to help revitalize and modernize the sector by providing contemporary agricultural facilities. The CYC will chase for increase in budgetary allocation for agricultural sector.
ii. AGRICULTURAL SKILLS TRAINING: as the sector is been modernized, new equipment and facilities will be introduced, the CYC will ensure that youth are properly trained on how to make use of these facilities, and they will be sensitized on the potentials of the sector in changing their lives.
iii. CREDIT FACILITIES: the CYC through the regional, national and local youth structures will identify the youth that need support in agriculture. This will include youth that are already into agriculture and those that want to join the sector. Subsequently, relevant business collaborations and sponsorship will be facilitated to empower these young people.
Please feel free to make your contributions! Please see poster attached.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
VOfficial campaign blog: http://
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
Saturday, 2 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: NO. 2: ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: it is a common knowledge that youth empowerment does not rally around education alone, as youth with educational experience sometimes turn out to be unemployed due to relatively low number of white-collar job opportunities. However, complementing that with entrepreneurial skills will give those youth an immediate job to do, and will give them an alternative career options in their lives.
i. VOCATIONAL SKILLS TRAINING: the CYC under our leadership will agitate for inclusion of vocational skills training as a compulsory school module or an extra school programme which students must attend, so that they can acquire different professional skills, which they can develop independently after schools. These skills acquisitions should be made opened to all youth freely. It shall also be complemented by supporting and encouraging youth that have already acquired vocational skills to share their talents and experiences with other young people through short term workshops.
ii. INTER-COUNTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXCHANGE: a proposal will be made for exchange of youth talents and skills within commonwealth countries. Youth with unique entrepreneurial skills in one country will be sponsored to travel to another country to train other youth, and share the experiences and challenges they faced in their career. However, the transferred skills have to be found marketable in the receiving country before such inter-country entrepreneurial exchange takes place. This will go a long way in expanding the available skills options for the youth.
iii. YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION: After acquisition of professional skills, youth will need to be empowered to establish their own businesses. As such, youth led committee will be constituted to call, receive and assess business proposals from young people. The selected business proposals will be presented to some of the youth development partners for sponsorship.
iv. COMMONWEALTH ANNUAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD DINNER:
Every year, the CYC under our leadership will constitute a youth led committee that will coordinate and administer award of excellence to outstanding young people in entrepreneurship. This will help inspire other youth to embrace entrepreneurship.
Please feel free to contribute your inputs.
Thank you
Ahmed Adamu,
for CHAIRPERSON,
Commonwealth Youth Council.
Official campaign blog: http://ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.co.uk/
Mobile: +447589710113
Email: ahmadadamu@yahoo.com
a.adamu@newcastle.ac.uk
Skype: ahmadadamu
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/411366385630182/
Friday, 1 November 2013
REVISITING MY 7 POINTS PRIORITIES: INTRODUCING NEW ITEMS
From today, I will be revisiting my 7 points priorities, with a view to incorporating new programmes and line of actions on each agenda, and to hear more of your opinions. Starting with first Priority: Education.
INTRODUCING NEW ITEM: Inter-country academic tour
INTER-COUNTRY ACADEMIC TOUR: this is the newly introduced item under the first priority agenda, where university students from one country will be sponsored to take academic tour to other countries. This will enable them meet and network with their colleagues in their respective academic disciplines and also learn from each other. Different academic and social competitions will be arranged for the students within the commonwealth ranging from quiz, debate, cultural performances, e.tc. A youth led committee will be assigned to handle this programme every year.
DETAILS OF AGENDA 1.
1. EDUCATION: education is the bedrock for any meaningful development. It is through education that people’s ranks and positions in society are placed. The initial step of empowering young people is through Education. It is with this on our minds that we will set out the following line of actions to maximally tap the vast intellectual potentials of young people in the commonwealth so that they can be better citizens, employable and contribute to the developmental issues of their communities.
i. Special Educational Scholarships: Through the office of vice chairperson (Policy and Advocacy) the CYC will agitate for the creation of educational scholarships to less privileged, young women and physically challenged young people in every commonwealth member country. The recent Commonwealth Development Index have shown that most of developing countries in Africa and Asia are lagged behind in terms of quantity of young people in education and the level of quality education. Millions of intelligent young people are unwillingly out of school because they lack sponsorship. These young people are the future of the commonwealth, and we cannot afford to have illiterate future. Under our leadership, we will make sure that a transparent and fair educational sponsorship scheme is established or improved in countries where there is an existing similar scheme. The youth should be involve in the scheme, and there should be monitoring and evaluation youth task force for the scheme in every country, who will report to the CYC headquarters any progress, impact and weaknesses of the scheme. The scholarship scheme should cover all levels of education. This will not be taken lightly and serious campaigns, appeals and complains will be staged against any country that refuses to implement a generous scholarship for these special group of young people. I will make sure that a strategic plan for identifying these young people are put in place by the office of vice chairperson inclusion and engagement.
ii. EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURES AND FACILITIES: it was reported that in Kenya for example, 7 out of every 10 rural nursery schools don’t have access to blackboard (by sponsor a child Kenya Initiative). How many engineering schools do we have out there in many commonwealth countries without sufficient laboratory equipments? Talk more about the medical schools, how many people die due to inadequate medical experts who were poorly trained due to lack of teaching facilities. Providing scholarships is not enough without complementary funds allocation to provide these needed and necessary facilities and structures. To this effect, the CYC will make serious campaign and put pressure to the commonwealth countries to ensure better and improved budgetary allocations to improve the standards of educational schools/institutions in every commonwealth countries. For countries that have done well in the sector, a sustainable and improving plans shall be in place to further enhance the standards.
iii. YOUTH EDUCATION COMMITTEE: the CYC under our leadership will constitute education monitoring and evaluation committee in every level of youth leadership structure. The committee will undertake research on the problems and solutions of educations problems peculiar to every region and local community. The committee will be responsible for ensuring proper implementation of the CYC’s educational policy agitations, and reports any success or otherwise.
iv. CAMPAIGN FOR REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM: as the world evolves dramatically, new challenges and societal expectations changes, leading to the need to acquire a suitable education that fits the new challenges. Certain youth’s potentials have not yet been accommodated in educational curriculum, which could be relevant to the modern world challenges. Youth research group will be sponsored in every commonwealth country to identify those potential modules that need review, either to scrap or to introduce new ones depending on the peculiar circumstances in the locality.
v. COLLABORATION WITH PARTNERS: in the beginning of our tenure, a youth survey will be conducted to hear more about the youths problems in education and what they think should be the solution. This will be followed with an articulated line of actions toward achieving that, and identifying the relevant partners apart from government that will invest in providing quality education to young men and women in Commonwealth Countries.
vi. INTER-COUNTRY ACADEMIC TOUR: this is the newly introduced item under the first priority agenda, where university students from one country will be sponsored to take academic tour to other countries. This will enable them meet and network with their colleagues in their respective academic disciplines and also learn from each other. Different academic and social competitions will be arranged for the students within the commonwealth ranging from quiz, debate, cultural performances, e.tc. A youth led committee will be assigned to handle this programme every year.
I will continue with the second point of priority tomorrow, meanwhile please read and advice me on how you think we can improve quality education for the commonwealth youth.
Thank you.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Vote Ahmed Adamu as CHAIRPERSON, Commonwealth Youth Council,
Campaign blog: http:// ahmedforchaircyc.blogspot.c o.uk/
email: ahmedadamuforchairpersoncy c@yahoo.com
Phone: +447589710113.
facebook page: Ahmed Adamu for CYC Chairperson: http://www.facebook.com/ groups/411366385630182/
INTRODUCING NEW ITEM: Inter-country academic tour
INTER-COUNTRY ACADEMIC TOUR: this is the newly introduced item under the first priority agenda, where university students from one country will be sponsored to take academic tour to other countries. This will enable them meet and network with their colleagues in their respective academic disciplines and also learn from each other. Different academic and social competitions will be arranged for the students within the commonwealth ranging from quiz, debate, cultural performances, e.tc. A youth led committee will be assigned to handle this programme every year.
DETAILS OF AGENDA 1.
1. EDUCATION: education is the bedrock for any meaningful development. It is through education that people’s ranks and positions in society are placed. The initial step of empowering young people is through Education. It is with this on our minds that we will set out the following line of actions to maximally tap the vast intellectual potentials of young people in the commonwealth so that they can be better citizens, employable and contribute to the developmental issues of their communities.
i. Special Educational Scholarships: Through the office of vice chairperson (Policy and Advocacy) the CYC will agitate for the creation of educational scholarships to less privileged, young women and physically challenged young people in every commonwealth member country. The recent Commonwealth Development Index have shown that most of developing countries in Africa and Asia are lagged behind in terms of quantity of young people in education and the level of quality education. Millions of intelligent young people are unwillingly out of school because they lack sponsorship. These young people are the future of the commonwealth, and we cannot afford to have illiterate future. Under our leadership, we will make sure that a transparent and fair educational sponsorship scheme is established or improved in countries where there is an existing similar scheme. The youth should be involve in the scheme, and there should be monitoring and evaluation youth task force for the scheme in every country, who will report to the CYC headquarters any progress, impact and weaknesses of the scheme. The scholarship scheme should cover all levels of education. This will not be taken lightly and serious campaigns, appeals and complains will be staged against any country that refuses to implement a generous scholarship for these special group of young people. I will make sure that a strategic plan for identifying these young people are put in place by the office of vice chairperson inclusion and engagement.
ii. EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURES AND FACILITIES: it was reported that in Kenya for example, 7 out of every 10 rural nursery schools don’t have access to blackboard (by sponsor a child Kenya Initiative). How many engineering schools do we have out there in many commonwealth countries without sufficient laboratory equipments? Talk more about the medical schools, how many people die due to inadequate medical experts who were poorly trained due to lack of teaching facilities. Providing scholarships is not enough without complementary funds allocation to provide these needed and necessary facilities and structures. To this effect, the CYC will make serious campaign and put pressure to the commonwealth countries to ensure better and improved budgetary allocations to improve the standards of educational schools/institutions in every commonwealth countries. For countries that have done well in the sector, a sustainable and improving plans shall be in place to further enhance the standards.
iii. YOUTH EDUCATION COMMITTEE: the CYC under our leadership will constitute education monitoring and evaluation committee in every level of youth leadership structure. The committee will undertake research on the problems and solutions of educations problems peculiar to every region and local community. The committee will be responsible for ensuring proper implementation of the CYC’s educational policy agitations, and reports any success or otherwise.
iv. CAMPAIGN FOR REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM: as the world evolves dramatically, new challenges and societal expectations changes, leading to the need to acquire a suitable education that fits the new challenges. Certain youth’s potentials have not yet been accommodated in educational curriculum, which could be relevant to the modern world challenges. Youth research group will be sponsored in every commonwealth country to identify those potential modules that need review, either to scrap or to introduce new ones depending on the peculiar circumstances in the locality.
v. COLLABORATION WITH PARTNERS: in the beginning of our tenure, a youth survey will be conducted to hear more about the youths problems in education and what they think should be the solution. This will be followed with an articulated line of actions toward achieving that, and identifying the relevant partners apart from government that will invest in providing quality education to young men and women in Commonwealth Countries.
vi. INTER-COUNTRY ACADEMIC TOUR: this is the newly introduced item under the first priority agenda, where university students from one country will be sponsored to take academic tour to other countries. This will enable them meet and network with their colleagues in their respective academic disciplines and also learn from each other. Different academic and social competitions will be arranged for the students within the commonwealth ranging from quiz, debate, cultural performances, e.tc. A youth led committee will be assigned to handle this programme every year.
I will continue with the second point of priority tomorrow, meanwhile please read and advice me on how you think we can improve quality education for the commonwealth youth.
Thank you.
IF THE YOUTH WANT TO DO IT, THEN THEY CAN DO IT.
Vote Ahmed Adamu as CHAIRPERSON, Commonwealth Youth Council,
Campaign blog: http://
email: ahmedadamuforchairpersoncy
Phone: +447589710113.
facebook page: Ahmed Adamu for CYC Chairperson: http://www.facebook.com/
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