As promised in our earlier editions, we bring you the FINAL COMMUNIQUE
of the recently concluded youth integrity camp held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Please see the report in its entirety:
We, the participants of the Anglophone West Africa Youth Integrity Camp 2013, comprising representatives from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone who convened at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Lekki, Lagos to deliberate on how to:
Increase awareness on anti-corruption issues for a more focused and proactive youth involvement in the fight against corruption;
Establish a network of youth leaders who are empowered and motivated to use their dynamism and innovative minds to fight against corruption, demand transparency and accountability, promote integrity and are able to work with others to achieve set goals;
Provide the youth with tools to enable them become agents of change in their communities;
Provide a forum for exchanging innovative approaches in anti-corruption work, community impact and mobilization;
Encourage youth leaders to develop follow-up action plans/initiatives/programmes for implementation.
Having heard presentations from our resource persons and camp officials;
Motivated by experiences shared by participants from other countries;
Inspired by the principles and spirit of integrity;
Taking cognisance of the need to fight corruption in our various countries;
Appreciating the role youth need to play in promoting integrity;
Conscious of the fact that the campaign for building integrity and fighting corruption comes with its attendant challenges;
Acknowledging that the need to resuscitate the values of integrity and discourage corrupt practices starts with us;
Our capacities strengthened in the areas of proposal development and fundraising;
Determined to exercise our democratic rights as citizens to participate in decisions and decision making around the campaign for integrity and the fight against corruption in our various countries;
Recognizing that there are institutions in our various countries to regulate our actions and inactions;
Convinced that we can promote integrity amongst the youth and other members of the public;
Do recommend as follows:
We the Participants in our various capacities will proactively input into on-going institutional reforms that seeks to fight corruption in our respective countries
Where necessary, participants will maximize opportunities for peaceful demonstrations against corruption
Representatives from this camp will help to adequately sensitise and re-orient members of their communities on the adverse effects of corruption and how they can help prevent and fight it
Participants agree to engage in monitoring budgets and implementation of projects in their various communities
Participants will also work to monitor and keep public and private sector officials accountable for promises made and commitments to obligations
Participants will form coalitions to create platforms for publishing reported incidence(s) of corruption or abuse of office by citizens
Participants will seek the support of donor agencies in the implementation of project proposals in the pursuit of integrity
Participants will continue to collaborate with Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Transparency International (TI) to build a strong network in order to promote integrity and discourage corruptionin Anglophone West Africa
ICPC will facilitate the integration and networking for all stakeholders fighting corruption in Anglophone West Africa. e.g. media; religious bodies, civil societal, traditional rulers, Civil Society Organisations; entertainment industries, Non-Governmental Organisations, International and Local Donor Agencies etc.
In conclusion, we the participants of this 2013 Youth Integrity Camp resolve as part of our activities to disseminate and engage relevant stakeholders on what we have learnt.