ABOUT US
The Youth Action Movement was an initiative of young Cameroonians to come together and participate in the development of their country.
Following several discussions between youth organizations and some partners, the national executive board was put in place with support from the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Secondary Education as well as UNICEF-Cameroon.
In general, the type of education received by youths does not adequately prepare them to face the changing and challenging employment market trends.
Youth unemployment and under-employment have reached staggeringly high proportions. In addition, youths face difficulties of access to quality health services.
In the same vain the exclusion of youths from decision making processes creates inter-generational conflict which results in juvenile delinquency that is aggravated by the absence of leisure activities.
Furthermore, the difficulty of youths’ access to Information Technology provides them with insufficient and unequal distribution of important information. One also observes the low participation of youth in international forums partly due to the absence of support from the government and other organizations and partly because of the absence of negotiation skills from the youths themselves.
Faced with these difficulties, the Youth Action Movement has set out to achieve three main objectives. These are to;
**Develop youth leadership and their involvement in the different facets and life challenges.
**Facilitate the exchange of experience and information circulation among youths in all developmental initiatives.
**Participate in the reduction of youth vulnerability to STI/HIV and AIDS as well as other social ills.
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Citizen participation
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Health Promotion and HIV/AIDS Prevention
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Employment and socioeconomic insertion
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Education and training
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Information and communication technologies
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The Fight against poverty
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The Promotion of Human rights
The Youth Action Movement is rooted in the conviction that, the strength of the Cameroonian youth in all its diversity is translated in terms of his/her active participation in decision making processes. It is important to regard the youth as an actor in social development and not as a passive subject. This engagement of the Youth Action Movement is also justified by the International Youth Charter and convention of the Rights of the Child which stipulates the right to participation in articles 12, 13 and 15.
That is why within the cooperation agreement between the Government of Cameroon and UNICEF, the Program Adolescent Participation and Development offers youth friendly services of information, education and counseling (YFCIEC) through structures of dialogue and expression. The Network is a forum for youth participation in decision making within the family as well as at the local, national, regional and international levels.
Some youth associations who have already proven their worth have already acquired some experience in information, youth mobilization and life skills, have been identified as partners to contribute in the setting up of YAM through out the National Territory.
The implementation of the activities of the YAM involves structures at the national level which are capable of supporting local ones with the necessary resources, equity and priority areas. Six provincial secretariats have already been implanted in local youth associations and they intervene effectively in areas such as youth health, STIs/HIV and AIDS and also participate in other areas of development.
The creation of a data base for youth associations affiliated to the Network, in factors of risk and vulnerability of youths, and their localization throughout the national territory offers a base for rational planning and decision making in order to change risky behavior among youths.
Advocacy is carried out in order to stimulate and arouse youth structures of expression in order to empower youth organizations and enabling their participation in decision making processes at the grassroots, local and national levels on issues that concern their development. In this wise, specific actions were carried out in order to accelerate, the elaboration of a document on the National Youth Policy, the putting in place a National Youth Council and the re launching of the National Youth Committee and Citizenship (popular) education.
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