Youth Matters: UN discuss more cooperation avenues

The Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education on January 11, 2016, met with the UNFPA Resident Representative.

The United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA, and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, MINJEC, are to step up cooperation in youth matters. In this respect, Minister Mounouna Foutsou on January 11, 2016, in Yaounde, received Dr Barbara M. Sow, UNFPA’s Resident Representative to Cameroon.

Their discussions focussed on the work of the United Nations Youth Group, which was initially an initiative of the UN System in Cameroon, but now extended to MINJEC, the National Youth Council and the National Programme Against Maternal and Infant Mortality. The two sides also talked about closer follow-up of youth programmes, the Emergency Youth Plan, (‘Plus Jeun’), National Civic Education Campaign, youth volunteering, among others. Mounouna Foutsou stressed the need to integrate information on who does what, where and how in order to facilitate collaboration.  

Speaking to the press after, Dr Barbara Sow said they discussed future cooperation between UN System and the Cameroon government on youth affairs, reviewed past collaboration and talked about how UNFPA intended to extend its cooperation. She added that there was need to let youth know what opportunities existed and how they could make use of them. As follow-up to Monday’s meeting, further discussions between UNFPA and MINJEC held yesterday, January 12, 2016.

The two sides talked about 2016 action plans, how to better work together and how the UN can assist Cameroon in the celebration of the Youth Day Golden Jubilee on February 11, 2016. Mention was also made of possible UN support to youth in the Far North Region affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.