Addis Abeba — African Union (AU) ministers attending a youth conference here on Friday declared the year 2008 as African Youth Year tagged "African Youth for Peace and Development." The ministers who attended the 2nd ordinary session deliberated up on the main activities of the programme of action of the Year of the African Youth in order to accelerate the ratification and development of the African Youth Charter.

About 16 states including Ethiopia have so far signed the document but have not yet ratified it.

The four-day experts meeting which deliberated on the 2007-2015 plan of action also dealt with considering and adopting the program of activities for the year 2008, year of African youth.

The meeting focused on the establishment of a fund for the promotion of the charter and to provide support to the youth.

The ministers and representatives from 43 member states were urged to accelerate their efforts to popularize, sign, ratify and implement the youth charter in member states.

Only Gabon, Rwanda and Mali have done so.

It was recently reported that despite the view shared by many Africans that the continent's future depends on its youth, most of the member countries of the African Union (AU) have been slow to ratify the African Youth Charter.

The African Youth Charter was adopted by the seventh ordinary conference of heads of state and government meeting in July 2006, in Banjul, Gambia, seven years after the Algiers conference recommended its preparation.

The Charter emanated from the need to take into consideration, the situation of African youth, most of who have been marginalized by the society, as a result o f their poor incomes, unequal access to property and power, unemployment and under employment.

It also noted with interest, the status of youths infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, living in conditions of poverty and starvation, and who are victims of illiteracy, poor quality education system, and poor access to health and information services as well as violence.

'African Youth for Peace and Development' was the theme of the one-day ministerial conference which was also followed by a ceremony for the outcomes of the African Youth Initiative and Creativity awards, highlighted as one of the activities for celebrating the year.

During the ceremony a poster from Benin was recommended to be the logo of the Youth conference and each of the winners were presented with a certificate, a trophy and 2000 USD.