OVERVIEW
West Africa’s development challenges in the 21st century are multifaceted and it’s strived to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) will prove to be strenuous unless of course most of the region’s efforts are directed towards alleviating poverty among its youth. Despite the many initiatives targeted at reducing poverty and implementing the agenda of NEPAD, the facts indicate that much more remains to be done. NEPAD represents a long term vision for collective and national political and economic reform in Africa
With the bulk of West African population below the age of 30, the burden of West Africa’s protracted political and economic crisis affecting the continent falls on young people. Today’s youth will become tomorrow leaders making decisions that will have enormous impact. The assets and talents of youth should be nurtured to enable for effective human resources development.
The future development of the region, therefore rest on the hands of today’s youth and a favourable condition for their social-economic development and their participation in a democratic system are essentially the prerequisite for reaching the goals set by the various development initiatives.
The challenge is to mobilize their energies and transform governance system so that they fell included and represented. There has been a noticeable increase of youth organizations, and governments and international organizations initiatives addressing the concern of youth need. However, the initiatives by the various groups have lacked the right approaches to effectively engage the youth.
Most political systems condensed to young people, relegating their concerns to the margins and bracketing them exclusively to issues such as sport and education. Many political parties have youth wings but these are often just a mean of political apprenticeship than a devise for the militarization of electorate politics. In the current contest there is a pressing need to address the challenges of youth and governance.
Among the challenges currently facing the region the HIV/AIDS pandemic particular affects the youth, claiming the lives of more than a million young people between the ages of 15-24 by the year 2005. The infection rate is very alarming and there is an urgent need to formulate strategies to mitigate the spread of the disease and provide access to life saving drugs.
The role of MPs in building wholesome functioning societies and a region based on the respect for the rule of law, youth participation and good governance cannot be overemphasized. MPs are direct representatives of the people and represent an enormous catalyst for social and democratic change. It is therefore through the participation of youth and MP that the visions and objectives set by NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals could materialize. It is also through the direct participation that West African countries can submit themselves to the African Peer Review Mechanism, which is sin qua non t the sustainable development of West Africa.