Tenda Wema Nenda Zako i.e. 35 is the New 25 and Other Seating Challenges (Conclusion)

Disclaimer: For more context on the rumblings shared here, please read part one of the article.

One week into the new year and I have received interesting feedback on my first batch of articles so far. Including one from Genuine A. Desireh asking me to expound on the bottoms-up approach towards Meaningful Youth Engagement and Participation (MYE & MYP).

Recap: Here is my comparison of what Meaningful Youth Engagement (MYE) and Meaningful Youth Participation (MYP) is and why should we have a mixed model approach:?Twitter Thread. This comparison does feature for a good part of the article

#IntergenerationalSolidarity

This theme has featured greatly in my previous articles, as it was the theme for the 2022 International Youth Day i.e. Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages. For a bottoms-up approach to work in MYE/MYP in Africa, this needs to not only be taken seriously but have measures in place to foster it.

What MC Thinks Works for MYE/P in Africa 1: I shall start this off by saying as a continent, we actually do have the youth in the plans for the?African Union?Agenda 2063?which is our vision for the #AfricaWeWant. Here is a snippet of lines 53-58 from the #Agenda2063 (popular version)

What MC Thinks Works for MYE/P in Africa 1.2: For line 55 to be a reality, the one billion African babies that will be there by 2050 will need the support of those who have traversed the earth longer, so as not to repeat the same mistakes of their forefathers (especially in leadership and governance). This means that there needs to be vulnerability from both parties for the mentorship and reverse mentorship to work effectively. However, it also means, that there needs to be a fundamental mind shift (and even possibly behaviour change) to make it work. (I'll get to the mind shift in a bit)

What MC Thinks Works for MYE/P in Africa 2: The African Youth Charter

It deserves a line of its own because it has been in existence since 2006 (it is almost old enough to be declared an adult and be eligible to get a national ID in a good number of African nations).

Anyway, the key articles for me (and for this article context) include:

1. Article 11: Youth Participation
2. Article 12: National Youth Policy
3. Article 14: Poverty Eradication and Socioeconomic Integration of Youth
4. Article 16: Health (boldened because I am finally going to answer Genuine A. Desireh question)

So let us use a hypothetical example

Person A is a 16-year-old youth champion who volunteers with CBO X whose aim is to bridge the gap in Youth Friendly Reproductive Health Services for Persons Living with Disabilities?(PLWD) through their independent YFS and also ensure that public-run YFS have their accessibility challenges addressed (so articles 11 and 16; line 2c of the African Youth Charter are being attained). CBO X's work is in Constituency C, which has a population of 50,000 people and is based in a Semi-Arid area (so a hard-to-reach area and marginalized group).

COVID-19 hits the country, so CBO X starts a program of home-based visits via their volunteers, to check on not only their reproductive health but also share key information such as signs to watch out for, preventive measures to employ and more. They also distribute face masks and advice on vaccination once the national program commences. (article 16; line 2d of the African Youth Charter is also being attained now)

In the course of their visits, they of course have indirectly noted households where people have reported having some of the signs they taught. They alert Constituency C health team who handle the matter as per the chain of medical treatment?and provisional national guidelines at the time (now article 16; line 2a of the African Youth Charter is being attained).

CBO X is located in a country with a National Youth Policy. The policy has provided provision for a National Youth Council which is a parastatal that works in official relations with relevant cross-cutting government entities. Thanks to this, they are registered members of their country's National Youth Council, as a special interest group, with whom they share quarterly reports of their activities (enter article 12 & article 14, line 2e of the African Youth Charter). This leads to their COVID-19 program being used as a best practice of how to leverage existing CBOs to advance primary healthcare during a pandemic, despite the lockdowns being in effect.

"Tenda Wema Nenda Zako"

Loosely translated this means “do good and go your way.”

Of course, for this model to work, there is a need for support of MYP activities and acknowledging the key role that youth have in shaping the health system i.e Intergenerational Solidarity. In addition, there is a need for accountability from the youth i.e. the 16-year-old is doing what a 16 year can do to better the health system; in addition to them mentoring and sponsoring others (especially younger volunteers) to do more than what they did at their time in that position (and try not to fall into the rubric of holding onto the position till their 25 or even 32 years).

Remember that Africa's population is getting younger. So we need to find something for those one billion babies to do. (I gave a snippet of more health solutions to consider along the lines of intergenerational solidarity in an article last year here and in a podcast here The Role of Young Global Health Leaders in Transforming Health Systems in Africa)

Disclaimer: Rumblings expressed in this article are my own. Inferences made are at your discretion. As usual, feedback is always welcome either via the comments section or?email