Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
3 November 2009
Addis Ababa — The problem in Africa is not just one of leadership but actually more one of bad followership, according to Carlos Sanvee, General Secretary of the Africa Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCAs).
Sanvee was speaking on October 29 at the opening ceremony of the Africa YMCA Youth Summit 2009, in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia titled: 'From Subject to Citizen: African Youth Claiming their Space, Influencing for Positive Transformation.'
On the issue of leadership and followership, Sanvee said, "One of our major challenges in Africa is the challenge of followership. In other words, who we follow, who inspires our action or who our role models are."
"Bad governance followers will become bad while in leadership positions and therefore will continue to elect people who serve their interests. We need to focus on genuine empowerment for the Renaissance of Africa, and it is important that we build a new generation of leaders.
Sanvee explained that during the summit participants will seek ways to 'liberate' the minds of youth, set new patterns for thinking and moving towards a status where youth are citizens rather than subjects.
Dr Berhanu Tadesse, President of the Ethiopia YMCA, said, "Transformative change will come through providing space for dialogue, open and transparent communication and building the capacity to tolerate and accommodate new ideas and differences."
The summit runs until November 5 and the focus is on building the civic competence of selected youth leaders from 12 YMCA movements in Africa.
During the Summit, the 70 youth participants will identify major youth crises, analyse root causes and develop action plans to become agents of transformation.
African youth participants are from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, The Gambia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Others participants are from YMCAs in Canada, Germany, Norway and the United States, as well as from World Alliance of YMCAs in Switzerland and Y-Care International in United Kingdom.
The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abba Paulos, who is also President of the World Council of Churches and the Patron of the Ethiopia YMCA also attended.
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