1. African Youth Development Platform
Importance
The access to information is a huge obstacle African youth face every day. People are fighting for information especially those who do not have access to new information technology. African youth also require a platform where they can discusses and express ideas on issues such as gender, HIV/AIDS etc. This platform will be used to disseminate information to all categories of youth in Africa.
.It is an opportunity to give tools to youths for their own development and participate in formulation of policies affecting their development. Communication development gives youths a platform to self discover and educate themselves using information communication technology (ICT) like the internet, radio, print media and television.

2. Activities of AYDP

3. IMPACT of AYDP Youth empowerment in: Capacity building Self discovery
Leadership skills (to produce influential and servant leaders)
Experience sharing
Disseminating voices of African Youth
Both monitoring and evaluation activities

4. Youth for an Open Society
A stable political environment is imperative for : Youth must Demand:
entrepreneurial development * Democracy
investment * Open Governance
economic growth * Peace
This project creates a forum for networking, sharing information and inspiring youth to participate in the social, economic and political life of the continent.
It also builds a sense of African community that is broader than individual countries.
Youth have a responsibility to call for human rights and growth all over the continent, and must form a loud and cohesive voice.
What will we do?
Create a database of all youth associations and youth leaders: values, activities and opportunities. Include resources (e.g. life skills info/language learning tools, skills training etc)
Use database as a lobbying platform to address the action of government and other entities. Encourage participants to take the information and discussions to rural and/or marginalized areas.

5. It will work because: Cheap Easy to set up
Most youth organizations do utilize the internet in some way
Youth feel a need for collective identity (e.g. facebook)
Discussions can have powerful impacts (e.g. African Youth Panel pre-Addis, Obama’s presidential campaign)
Open access in terms of gender, disability etc.
It can compliment other activities
IMPACT
A better informed African youth
A more united African youth
Access to training therefore better employment opportunities
Collective advocacy against abuse of power/ gender impingements etc.

7. Empowering youths to influence decision making structures
The why?
For a long time young people have been sidelined from the mainstream decision making processes and structures. This has been due to a number of factors including deliberate exclusion, lack of mentorship schemes, lacking the capacity to meaningful participation and the negative attitude, perception and irresponsibility of youth to demand and create the space.
Meaningful participation can be fostered when nation states have aligned and committed to national and international instruments including the human rights charter /principles. This alignment and commitment to different national and international instruments should be a reality on the ground by implementing, monitoring and evaluating performances based on agreed indicators.

8. What should be done?
Time has come that we allow non-partisan popular participation of youth along the decision making structures and processes to mainstream and input the youth development issues and agenda.

9. Proposed Action/activity on the ground
Establish, organize and facilitate youth public forums alongside the decision making planning stages /structures/processes from decentralized levels to national levels.
Impact envisaged
An established platform of youth to participate, share, exchange, learn and input youth issues and agenda to the mainstream decision making processes and structures. As this shall happen at different district/provincial levels across the country, it will create a national youth movement that will be systematic and influential to the policy arenas locally and nationally.
The idea is to have the platforms taking place around the same time across Africa; this will create a continental youth movement addressing issues of youth and being an advocacy platform for youth development issues and agenda

10. Alternative Youth Livelihood Project for Income Generation, Nutritional and Health Maintenance
The trend analysis and risk assessment of Africa recognizes that Youth unemployment and marginalization continues to represent a serious threat to Africa’s peace initiatives. Conservative research reports indicate that African countries will have to provide jobs in excess of 45 million for young people ages over the next ten years to address this unemployment crisis. This figure does not account for the fact that the African Youth Charter defines youth as those between the ages of 15-35, adding an additional 11 year group to account for. Given this added population, the figures of unemployed youth in Africa increases tremendously.
Due to this fragmentation of actors, there is growing recognition among all partners that short-term efforts for employment creation must be complemented by long term employment generation strategies through private sector development. In this vein, the proposed initiative confronts some of these realities and proposes ways to ameliorate the problem as a whole.

11. What should be done?
Empower youth to take advantage of alternative livelihood opportunities as a means of employment creation and economic stimulation, by providing them with the requisite capacity and hardware support.
Take advantage of value chains in the beekeeping industry, and at the same time address nutritional and health requirements for children, youth, women, the elderly and other community residents.
Use modern eco-friendly beekeeping techniques and equipment.
Establish solar-powered factories:
for packaging and labeling honey, and
to process beeswax which can be transformed into finished ready-to-sell commodities such as candles, and products of nutritional, medicinal and cosmetic value. (Recent research suggests that honey can also be a source of fuel.)
Sell honey and other bee products through cooperatives, and savings and loans associations leading to increased household income and community prosperity.

12. What is the Impact?
Economic empowerment of the most marginalized group of young people—rural young women and men
Positions young people for international market access to benefit from Economic Partnership Agreements
Decongests urban areas that are overpopulated by rural-to-urban migration, thereby:
reducing crime, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, STIs and HIV/AIDS
Improves living conditions of communities (including positive health impact)
Political and social empowerment of communities as a result of the economic empowerment
Because bee farming is not time-intensive, this initiative can expand to incorporate literacy programmes, other agricultural components (poultry farming, animal husbandry and crop production) and support cultural activities for the community.

13. Trash is cash
Garbage can be a resource in African communities that suffer from lack of proper waste disposal.
“Trash is cash” will promote a mission of building capacity for effective community-run solid waste management system in selected areas.
The importance of the initiative will be creation of jobs for several youth groups in African communities, Building capacity for effective community-run solid waste management systems, it will be an income generating activity, it will unlock human potential, improve livelihoods, promote dignity and ensure environmental cleanliness.
The program must ensure equal participation of both men and women which would allow/permit the achievement of the 3rd MDG. 13

14. Implementation Strategy/Procedures
An initial waste enumeration survey will be conducted to determine the proportion of each type of waste found in respective areas or communities;
Identification of youth groups in surveyed areas (comprising largely unemployed young men and women);
Education workshops in garbage collection and recycling, team building exercises, leadership and financial management;
Impact
Creation of jobs for several youth that collect trash from households, industries and institutions;
Uplifting the economic potentials and financial management skills of the youth helping them to build their career; 14

15. Impact/Cont.:
Practices (E.g. Drug abuse, risky sexual behaviors, criminal activities…) resulting from idleness could be avoided by the youth being involved in such income generating projects;
Throughout the implementation of the project/initiative it will address the question of climate change and its impact on development brought about by mismanagement of waste;
Concluding Remarks
This idea roots in the conviction that solutions to problems involving poverty are possible only if those affected by the problems, drive development. Concerned outsiders can help by supporting mobilization of communities, advising, networking and providing necessary resources.
Ultimately, the community is the one that possesses the knowledge and motivation necessary to solve its own problems. 15

16. Youth Employment and Business Development
Migration to Developed Countries
High Crime Rates and Conflict
Global Food and Financial Crisis
High Levels of Poverty
Currently in Africa there are 190 Million young people between 15 and 24 years, however there is a demand for 15 Million new jobs on an annual basis, whereas only 10 Million jobs are created annually. A huge gap of 5 Million jobs exists!
Family Dependency
Slow Rate of Employment Creation and Absorption.
Achievement of MDGs is Off-track

17. What should be done Capacity Building Youth Microfinance
Training of existing and potential young entrepreneurs.
Train and deploy business extension workers across the continent.
Mentorship with existing businesses and peer to peer mentorship amongst youths
Deploy and encourage business incubation centres
Conducive business environment
Creation of favourable business policies
Promotion of business incubation centres
Promotion of youth exhibition as a platform for youth businesses to showcase their goods, services and products.
Youth Microfinance
Create an affordable credit scheme for start-ups and existing youth businesses.
Creation of a online peer-to-peer microfinance platform that will encourage investment funding from Governments, development partners, private investors, fellow Africans within Africa as well as the Diaspora in providing affordable funding to young entrepreneurs.

18. ENVISAGED IMPACT Crime and conflicts will be reduced
Family dependency will be reduced
Job opportunities will be increased
Attract foreign investment
Contribute to MDGs achievement