The National Youth Council of Burkina Faso (CNJ-BF) is, once again, making the news in the wrong way. Since its creation, this umbrella of youth organizations and movements has struggled to convince that it honors its vocation. The structure seems to divide more than it unites young people, and the past mandate has not deviated from this reality. Which ultimately forced the competent authority to suspend the national executive office, for expiration of mandate since July 2024.
More than the expiration of the mandate, the National Youth Council of Burkina Faso (CNJ-BF) also shone with internal debates between the camp of the outgoing president and those who accuse him of transforming the structure into a “personal property “. The current mandate of the structure therefore ends, as it began.
The least we can say, given its history, is that the National Youth Council struggles to convince in relation to what prompted its creation and the missions assigned to it. An organization whose mission is, in principle, to assess public policies relating to young people and to bring the concerns of this social segment to decision-makers, the CNJ-BF therefore wanted to be a channel for promoting youth and their well-being. be and by which, the commitment and contribution of youth to the national development process should be carried out.
Under all regimes, people have pointed out, rightly or wrongly, the powers to surf and scheme to gain control of the CNJ-BF. This is not likely to ensure peaceful operation and allow the structure to fulfill its vocation.
Created in 2008, following a youth congress held on December 2 and 3, 2008 in Ouagadougou, followed by the election of the national executive office of this youth umbrella, the National Youth Council of Burkina Faso. Faso had thus just fulfilled one of the recommendations of the first edition of the National Youth Forum, in June 2005, around the theme: “Responsibility of young people in political and economic development of Burkina Faso. In addition to this point, the young people had recommended the adoption of a national youth policy, the regular celebration of International Youth Day, the creation of a body of development volunteers, the creation of a ministry full of youth, the establishment of a Support and Promotion Fund for youth initiatives (which gave rise to the Support Fund for Youth Initiatives: FAIJ)… as well as the institutionalization of the forum.
This framework bringing together all categories of young people from the regions of the country, had therefore become an essential annual meeting between youth and the President of Faso. From 2005 to 2014, this Forum was organized each year in a different city in Burkina Faso, with a tête-à-tête between young people and President Blaise Compaoré (this format was described by observers as unique in Africa; countries like Mali, Niger and Togo subsequently followed suit).
After an interruption, it resumes in September 2019 then in October 2021 with President Roch Kaboré, but in a slightly different format. These editions precede, in November 2017, the organization of the general youth conference in Burkina Faso around the theme: “What governance for an optimal contribution of youth to the political, economic and social renewal of Burkina Faso? “.
In summary, at its creation, and to focus only on this one, the CNJ-BF was called to be a permanent structure between youth organizations and decision-makers, to work towards participation in civic, technical training and professional youth…, to harmonize the actions of youth organizations.
17 years after its establishment, what can we learn from the CNJ-BF? Despite the absence of a study on the strengths and weaknesses, we can safely say that this structure is struggling to carry out its real mission. Worse, many young people only discover its existence or hear about it through the crises that punctuate it. And the outgoing office, led by Moumouni Dialla, deputy in the Transitional Legislative Assembly, did not deviate from this sad reality. It is also in a climate of political suspicion that he will be elected for the first time in 2018.
He will be re-elected for a second term in a standoff between his camp and the then minister in charge of youth, Dr Smaïla Ouédraogo. This election, held in 2021, was held in tension between two camps; one accusing the outgoing president, Moumouni Dialla, candidate for his own succession, of manipulating the texts in his favor while the person concerned and his supporters accuse Minister Smaïla Ouédraogo of wanting to impose his candidate at the head of the structure. Like the present case, all the bodies which have directed the structure from its creation to date have been either accused of belonging to political offices or of leading a CNJ-BF in the pay of a political clan.
-We need to rethink the National Youth Council!
Rightly or wrongly, therefore, the shadow of the political games of the moment has always been seen on this structure. As a result, the CNJ-BF has never managed to reach out widely and convince in relation to the missions assigned to it. It remains little known to the target and less attractive. However, several reasons militate for the CNJ-BF to be the most visible and dynamic structure (numerical importance of young people, creativity and punch of this social fringe, mobility, etc.). Unfortunately, this is far from the case; the CNJ-BF divides young people more than it unites them, you just need to find out about its current affairs.
This therefore means that the current situation of the structure, which is worth the suspension of its national executive office until further notice, is not a particularity. It must be seen in an overall view, because the CNJ-BF seems to have a congenital defect, particularly through its relationship with the ministry in charge of youth.
This seems to be a real handicap for the CNJ-BF, when we know the issues attached to the department in charge of youth and what youth is worth in the political game of conquest or exercise of power.
This clearly states that after 17 years of operation, the CNJ-BF deserves a sort of assessment, in order to learn lessons to move forward better. Among the possible solutions, we could consider a format which contrasts with that in force, that is to say which gives more independence and autonomy to the CNJ-BF vis-à-vis the institutions. and political wishes.
As the transition is seen as a favorable moment for reforms, engaging the National Youth Council of Burkina Faso in the process will not be a bad idea. To proceed with the establishment of a new governing body in the same mechanisms of the CNJ-BF is to throw it into the same problems. Reforms could allow the structure to fully play its role for the benefit of young people and therefore the national cause, when we know for example that among the relevant recommendations made by young people, around twenty years ago, that the CNJ-BF was to carry, include the creation of village committees to fight against drugs, alcohol abuse and harmful traditional practices, and even the improvement of wildlife management!.
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Lefaso.net
