• Child Participation

Youth in Africa organise themselves. Their organisations take different shapes and forms, ranging from exclusively youth-led organisations, to those that are youth-related or youth-serving. Some are classified as non-governmental, but there are also governmental youth organisations.

Other distinguishable groups include faith-based and secular organisations. The issues they deal with are as diverse as the forms they take. Organised youth engage in activities around areas including education, employment, hunger and poverty, environment, health, HIV and AIDS, gender, participation in decision-making, information and communication technology (ICT), conflict prevention, good governance, human rights, and often African unity and the African Renaissance.

However they come together – in youth alliances, associations, coalitions, or networks – young people who join or establish youth organisations generally have the same reason for doing so: they want to bring about change, for themselves, their communities and society at large. They try to find collective solutions to individual problems and to take individual responsibility for collective problems.

By establishing or joining youth organisations, young people gain power and visibility. Youth organisations provide support structures for young Africans in a reality which often does not allow citizens to raise their voice to claim their rights. By becoming part of a larger entity, youth can tackle problems from within a supportive and protective environment.