Youth Development Agencies including Youth Councils, Ministries of Youth and CSOs in 9 ECOWAS states have endorsed the need for the establishment of an ECOWAS Youth Parliament (EYP). This was occasioned following a Regional Consultative Meeting organised by the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) in Accra at the Mensvic Grand Hotel from 19th -20th December, 2024.
The objective of the Regional Consultative Meeting was to deepen the collective action of the youth in the sub-region to influence the establishment of EYP as a safe democratic space for youth involvement in political governance; and provide a platform for co-creation and improve ownership of the EYP conceptual framework.
The EYP is a youth-led initiative being championed by the coalition of the FOSDA, Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI) and the West Africa Youth Alliance (WAYA) with the support of OXFAM in Ghana.
Speaking at the meeting, the Executive Director of FOSDA Theodora Williams Anti remarked that the EYP when established, will be the first in the AU Community and few across the globe that demonstrate strong recognition to the socio-political worth and value of young people beyond just mobilizing them for voting. She noted that the EYP will also create space for youth to voice their issues related to Unemployment, Education, Youth Peace and Security among others as contribution to the long-term objective of complementing the efforts of the ECOWAS Parliament.
On his part, the Accountable Governance Programmes Manager at OXFAM Mohammed Mahmud stressed that EYP is a critical necessity. He further opined that the EYP when established will be intentional about building and mentoring young people to understand the value of diversity and how to galvanize their differences into a collective power for influence and development of the region.
The former Secretary General of the ECOWAS Parliament Mr John Azumah emphasized the need for the coalition team promoting the EYP initiative to continuously undertake a wider stakeholder engagement to ensure that there are no gaps among the stakeholders. Importantly, he admonished the coalition to demonstrate how the EYP can complement the efforts of the ECOWAS Parliament whiles maintaining a sustainable link with the ECOWAS Commission.
There were other goodwill and support messages from the ECOWAS Youth Center, National Youth Authority (NYA)-Ghana, (CHRDI), and the West Africa Youth Alliance (WAYA).
During the plenary participants were exposed to the nature and state of the ECOWAS Parliament and the EYP Conceptual Framework. Participants also co-created a stakeholder map highlighting their interest and influences, internal and external opportunities and threats. The meeting ended with country level road map for building and deepening awareness on the EYP, collaboration with key actors, resource mobilization and other role plays.
The EYP coalition has been working since 2022 to ensure that young people are not left behind in the decision-making processes at the sub-regional level. Among the successes chalked include the over 330 young leaders in the ECOWAS sub region (Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Burkina Faso) who have been sensitized on the initiative and granted goodwill remarks and reception demonstrating long term desirous support and commitments.
