The old and the young shall be honoured during the 50th anniversary of youth day on February 11, 2016, says Civic Education and Youth Affairs Minister, Mounouna Foutsou.

This is one of the innovations to mark this year’s youth day to recognize elderly persons who have contributed to youth development in the country.
Outstanding and creative young people who are working for the development of the country will also be honoured.

Other innovations include the building of monuments in localities across the country where march-pass would take place, the composition of a youth anthem through which young people are expected to demonstrate their patriotic engagement to the country in song as well as the design and production of loin cloths.

“We are going to recognise, promote entrepreneurial spirit and creativity, efforts and merit as well as excellence in the youth so that they could serve as models and inspire others. We are, therefore, working to massively mobilise all the stakeholders for the 50th anniversary of the youth day to record a resounding success,” said the Minister.

Foutsou added, “Work so far done by the various committees put in place was also evaluated. We were lucky to have all the Regional Delegates of Civic Education and Youth Affairs at the [second] meeting. We expect them to transmit the resolutions of the meeting to stakeholders of the decentralised services in their respective regions. It was also an opportunity for me to give directives that would ensure a proper preparation of the celebration.”

Some of the directives which Foutsou firmly gave at the meeting included the preparation of all technical documents related to the activities of the celebration; the identification of a site for the official launching of the activities; the start of march-past practice this January; translation of all the documents into the two official languages and their simultaneous circulation to all stakeholders and the placing of validated documents on the social media.

He reiterated that the materials for the construction of monuments are expected to be provided voluntarily by Cameroonians of goodwill.
The Minister called on the elite and municipal councils to work with Delegates of Civic Education in this direction.

He urged members of the communication, translation and protocol committee to seek possibilities of getting a live broadcast of the youth day celebration in Yaounde while ensuring that other localities also receive adequate media coverage.

The Minister also expressed the hope that funds will be made available on time in order to avoid last minute rush.

Prior to the meeting, the Minister reiterated that the celebration will be taking place against a backdrop of intensification of the national campaign for the promotion of civic education and the consolidation of national integration coupled with Cameroon’s preparation for the 2016 African Female Nations Cup.

Mounouna Foutsou also mentioned that the celebration will be taking place in a particular security context and the management of thousands of internal and externally displaced people.