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The international year of the youth was declared with a lot of expectation which basically is to promote good partnership /relationship with policy makers and young people. Several months have passed and it seems to me a time to take stock and see how well we have done. The year began in august 2010 and expected to end this month, it presented a lot of opportunities and also challenges.
The importance of young people’s participation in policy making and nation building is no longer a mirage as it has become a focal point to consider by all in the bid to enhance dialogue and mutual understanding. This has been made possible through advocacy, lobbying activities and consistent education and mobilization of young people. It has also showed that young people if given an opportunity can make a great difference. The abilities of the youth has been seen in several instances some of which include the anti stigma bill in which the Youth advocate group (YAG) was able to make their recommendations and encouraged other youths to sign a petition instructing their representative to support the bill. The bill was passed in the lower house, although it didn’t pass the upper house before the general elections.
Also, National consultative forum which was organised by the federal ministry of health, UNFPA and youth development, it was aimed at advancing young people’s health and development. One of the major outputs was the production of a harmonised plane of action for the implementation of the national policy on adolescent and young people (2007) as well as the national youth policy. This program had a lot of young people in attendance and our suggested were also seriously.
One other very important achievement is the passage of the national health bill which young people advocated for and has been successfully passed in both the lower and upper houses and we are keeping a tab on it till it is signed by the presidency.
I can go on and on and on listing activities and instances no matter how small through which young people and even the government have been able to foster good relationship in policy especially as it affects us and we don’t even intend to stop just yet.....
We are pushing ahead to a time where nothing happens without us..... Truly it is our year!!!!
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