A campaign has begun throughout Africa to equip the youth to be able to engage decision makers more meaningfully.
The drive championed by the YMCA, a Christian organization, seeks to transform young people from the state of being subjects of leaders who can abuse them to a state of true citizenship with independent minds.
In a statement, YMCA Ghana said the organization wants to reverse what it describes as the sickening phenomenon of young people being used by some selfish leaders to perpetuate violence and crime of all forms across Africa.
The organization is participating in a one-week Youth Summit which is under way in Ethiopia.
The summit will kick-start a campaign to restore the dignity and self belief of young people across the continent.
The organization says though the youth have been the perpetrators of violence of various forms, including political, religious and ethnic, most of these crimes are instigated or even funded by some people in leadership positions.
It says this has made the youth subjects of these selfish leaders instead of being true citizens. It adds that what is more worrying is that these youth suffer from a poverty of dignity and self actualization.
YMCA is therefore using the Youth Summit to build the confidence of the participating youth to enable them engage with their leaders to make positive changes in their various countries.
The conference will also be used to develop action plans so that on return to the various countries, the participants can begin to implement the plans to ensure that young people are empowered to believe in themselves and be able to engage authorities meaningfully instead of being subjects of violence and crime.
