NewSETA training youth on democracy, citizen engagement.

This is at a three-day workshop which opened Tuesday October 22 in Yaounde. Some 40 young people selected from all regions of the country are taking part in the training. 

It is organised within the framework of the programme, Rebuilding Peace through Actions with Inclusive Reach, REPAIR.

The training was opened by the Sub-Director of Training and National Integration at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Bitchoke Alexandre. The official represented the Minister Mounouna Foutsou. 

The selected youth are exchanging and building knowledge, skills and values needed in advancing peace and democracy work. 

The focus of the first semester of REPAIR 2024 is on “Democracy and Citizen Engagement”. 

The main objective, organisers said, is to train the youth to better understand the legal, institutional, theoretical and conceptual frameworks of democracy. 

It is intended to equally empower the youth leaders with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to meaningfully participate in democratic processes. According to organisers, the REPAIR programme comprises of a series of trainings.   

Enter NewSETA Executive Director

Speaking during the ceremony, the Executive Director of NewSETA, Ateki Seta Caxton, said they have had different editions of REPAIR.

He said the programme seeks to train youth on citizen participation and engagement, build capacities around leadership, elections and youth participation around peace.

REPAIR, he added, is there to build the capacity for young people to understand that they can make a difference in their communities.

According to Ateki, the current session marks the 10th year of the programme with the holding of a convention.

“The convention is the idea that we want to celebrate 10 years of impact, 10 years means looking back and taking stock of what has been done and what we have been able to achieve. So it’s a come together of ten different cohorts which forms a group of 400 people that have been trained,” the NewSETA boss said.

He went on to add that: “In all, we have organised 360 activities across the nation and these activities have permitted us to train 10,000 young people, so it is just right for us to recognise all of the work that has been done and equally to honour our supporters and appreciate what they have been doing”.

The event, he said, will hold 24 and 25 at the Yaounde Conference Centre where all the cohorts will meet to celebrate the results. 

Participants salute initiative

One of the youth leaders at the Yaounde training workshop, Yankey Heribert Buse, said he hopes to acquire more knowledge on civil society engagement, democracy and to be able to relate to every societal issue.

“As a youth leader in my community, I am here to learn so, I can go back to impact my peers and help in them engage in dialogue and be able to solve problems and exchange with them on how they can engage themselves to believe in themselves,” Yankey said.

On her part, Neba Ann-Marie Lum, said the REPAIR programme is like a gateway to what she has been working on. She said it will lead her to connect with the right persons to move her career forward.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3268 of Wednesday October 23, 2024