NGO Forum calls on young Africans to take up human rights issues

Young Africans are encouraged to take up leadership in advancing and promoting the cause of human rights on the continent, Mr Lahsen said, adding that the call is necessitated by the fact that young Africans, particularly women, have been observed to be showing little interest in human right issues, while most of those presently championing the cause were ageing and nearing retirement.

Speaking to The Point in a recent interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 75th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center in Bijilo, the CIDH Africa Executive Director said:  “This is the moment for the young people; we need to bring on the young people, because they believe in peace and tolerance. We have been working on peace issues for years, and the young are open to everyone.

“We need these characters, and women have also shown that they are partners to men and they can effectively participate to bring in issues and function in any developmental approaches.”

He added: “We believe in the young and the women to solve these conflicts in Africa, as Africa is divided. There have been countless crises such as religious, humanitarian, ethnic and diversity issues. So, we need these people, especially women and the young to solve these situations.” 

Without peace, no progress or development will be achieved, as peace can bring all the countries together, he stated, saying: “We have seen the Russia-Ukraine war; it has negative effects in Africa.”

However, he added that the NGO Forum has achieved a lot with good records in favour of African people.

He thus called on all to encourage and listen to the voices of the voiceless, saying those people should not be left behind but encouraged to promote and protect human rights all over the world.

“We need this urgent collaboration between NGOs and civil societies with other stakeholders to achieve these elements,” he emphasised.