Youth Day fabric is not compulsory – Minister

The Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Mounouna Foutsou, has reiterated that purchasing the fabric for the celebration of the 50th Youth Day is not compulsory.

Mounouna Foutsou was speaking at a press briefing in Yaounde on January 29, 2016, prior to the launching of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Youth Day to be celebrated on February 11, 2016.

The Minister said the launching will take place in Tiko in the Southwest Region on January 31 and February 1; and in Yoko in the Centre Region on February 2 and 3, 2016.

This year’s celebration is placed under the theme: “Youth, Citizenship and the Fight Against Insecurity for the Advent of an Emergent Cameroon.”

Mounouna’s reaction on the issue of the Youth Day fabric came in the wake of growing public criticism of parents being forced to procure the fabric for their kids to use it for march-pass.

“It has always been stated that acquiring the fabric is not compulsory and that its use can be adapted according to the local realities, especially with regard to its experimental production in fairly limited quantity of 100,000 pieces,” said Mounouna, who argued that all Regional Delegates of his Ministry attended the preparatory meetings of the Youth Day celebrations.

The fabric already in circulation carries a stamped logo, a central theme, messages and awareness slogans on civic education and the promotion of national integration.

Mounouna noted that “beyond its contribution to the intensification of the current campaign on civic education and national integration, the youth celebration fabric is the fruit of the initiative and ingenuity of young people themselves under the leadership of the Cameroon National Youth Council.

“It was produced through a participatory process of meetings, consultations and information with representatives of partner administrations, youth leaders, the CICAM Company and its partners in charge of manufacturing and marketing.

“Thus, our collaborators in deconcentrated services were requested to make all the necessary arrangements for the young pupils and students of various levels of education, and non-formal education structures, young people of the informal sector, to march-pass to celebrate in their own way, each according to their ingenuity and creativity, the 50 years of the Youth Day. Young people can now rejoice to be able to get identified through their fabric. They may wear it on various occasions.”

Among some of the activities to mark the Youth Day celebrations are the construction of commemorative monuments in all the administrative units; designing of the youth logo and composition of a youth anthem and patriotic songs and translating them into national languages where necessary.

Others are the creation of a historical fresco retracing the history and origin of the Youth Day; parades in the Subdivisions.

The Minister said the Youth Excellence Gala dubbed: “Cameroon Youth Award,” will reward youth excellence in various areas of activity. The evening which will also be a cultural fiesta will be marked by fund raising for the promotion of youth projects and initiatives.

“Now that the Youth Day is at its 50th anniversary, it is right that the young people who have distinguished themselves in the past 50 years in our country should be given special attention,” Mounouna said.