CI-NEWS

News: Government opens up to youth

2020-02-19

No: 472

News: Government opens up to youth.

Youth in Cameroon have been reassured of measures taken by government to ensure they get jobs and actively participate in the growth and development of the nation.

The assurances were given to the youths by members of government on Tuesday, February 11, during a question-and-answer session at the Yaounde Multipurpose Sport Complex that marked the end of the sixth edition of the youth village. Dubbed the Youth Dialogue, the session that held on the esteemed instructions of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya, brought together government officials charged with the implementation of projects that will benefit the youth.

Opening the session, the Minister of Communication Rene Emmanuel Sadi said the event as well as the Youth Day is holding within a special context marked by the Legislative and Municipal elections and was thus an opportunity to laud Cameroonians especially the youth who went to the polls in responsibility, order and discipline to accomplish their civic duties. He said the active participation of youths in the electoral process shows they are ready to take active part in local governance.

On the question-and-answer session, he told the youths present that it is an opportunity for them to express their worries and reflections inspired from the Head of State’s address to them on February 10.

A call reechoed by the Minister of Youth and Civic Education Mounouna Foutsou who reassured the youths they would be edified on the various measures taken by the government to ensure young people are fully integrated in all strata of life. After the Head of State decried the delinquency observed in the school milieu, the youths wanted to know measures taken by government to eradicate the phenomenon in schools.

Responding to them, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, stressed that the Head of State has always laid emphasis on education with morals. Thus since 2005, there is an order put in place by government which stipulates the rights and duties of a student. Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo said instructions have been given to heads of higher institution to ensure decency is upheld in the highest standards.

For his part, the Minister of Youths and Civic Education, Mounouna Foutsou, said government has for the past years laid emphasis on moral and civic education from the base. He however said the process can only be effective and efficient if parents monitor and follow up their children at home because it is only through each collective effort that a responsible youth can be groomed to fit into the society.

Street children still have a place in the society.

On the rising phenomenon of street children, the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Professor Marie Thérèse Abena Ondoa, said the problem lies deeper at the micro level. Once there is no basis or foundation in a family, cases of children taking off to the streets will always arise, she said.

To solve this problem, Minister Marie Thérèse Abena Ondoa said government has been sensitizing parents to set the basis for moral education for children while her Ministry has been laying emphasis on family and parental education. She said government can never abandon its children because they have become street children thus rehabilitation and social centres have been set up to reintegrate these children. There are also family experts at her Ministry as well as at the Ministry of Social Affairs to take charge of such cases; despite the various opportunities offered through information and communications technologies, the youths wanted to know measures taken by the government to ensure their peers in the rural areas who don’t have access to internet benefit from these opportunities.

Digital transformation, a priority for youth development

In response, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng, stressed on government’s resolve to ensure the entire nation is covered with high speed internet so that the youths can benefit from the numerous opportunities offered by the digital world, notably the Youth Connekt initiative.

Internet connectivity remains a global challenge, the minister said, adding that the government has invested hugely in the sector in order to keep youths connected to the various opportunities available.

Government’s focus on digitising the economy was also stressed by the Minister of Agriculture Gabriel Mbairobe who said they are putting in place several digital programs in the agricultural sector to ensure youths do not only get jobs but become entrepreneurs in the future.

Youth employment remains a major preoccupation for government at all sectors but the Minister of Sports and Physical Education Professor Narcisse Mouelle Kombi reassured youths will have a wide range of opportunities with the nation hosting the African Nations Championship in April and the Africa Cup of Nations next year.

Professor Narisse Mouelle Kombi said the Head of State has invested massively in sports as a recreational facility for youths and ensured the nation gets state-of-the-art infrastructure ahead of the upcoming tournaments. He equally outlined measures taken by the government to ensure the various national teams are put in better conditions in order to perform at their best.

Tuesday’s question-and-answer session rounded off the eleven-day event taking place at the Youth Village as well as the celebrations marking the 54 edition of the Youth Day under the theme, ‘Youth, Peace, Decentralisation and active participation in local development for a new Cameroon’.

Amongst the innovations of this year’s celebrations was the Youth Connekt initiative launched on December 9, 2019 which has thus been extended to the various regions and local communities.

Culled from Cameroon Insider

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News: Government opens up to youth