Africa: Yaoundé hosts the first Permanent African Dialogue to rethink youth mobility

Yaoundé has become the epicenter of a crucial conversation on the future of African youth, hosting the inaugural Permanent African Dialogue (DAP). This landmark event, initiated by the International Council for Dialogue and Partnership (CIDP), brings together public actors and young people to fundamentally rethink migration and mobility across the continent. Under the theme 'Youth and Migration: Structuring and Sustainably Financing African Youth Systems,' the DAP seeks to establish a permanent framework for transforming mobility into a positive force.

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Mobility is normal in life's activities, but when it becomes inevitable, it is dangerous.

The dialogue addresses the urgent need for concrete solutions to ensure that mobility becomes an opportunity rather than an inevitability leading to danger, as noted by Professor Jean Emmanuel Pondi. The core objective is to shift the paradigm from viewing migration as a flow of young people to be contained, to an organized dynamic that channels talent, creates value, and builds sustainable trajectories for the continent. This approach places the structuring and mobilization of dedicated financing for youth at the heart of the strategy.

Dr. Hemes NKWA, Coordinator of CIDP, outlined a three-pronged strategy to ensure the DAP's effectiveness and avoid it becoming just another conference. This includes genuine co-construction, bringing together youth, governments, private sector, and diplomats to collaboratively define solutions for skills, financing, and markets. The second pillar is the adoption of the Yaoundé Declaration, drafted by the youth themselves, which aims to organize existing texts for operational impact. Finally, rigorous international follow-up with an emphasis on accountability and a concrete roadmap will translate discussions into action.

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It is no longer about addressing the migration issue through the prism of containing youth flows, but about organizing it, considering it as an economic and human dynamic capable of channeling talents, creating value, and building sustainable trajectories for the continent.

From an African perspective, this dialogue is particularly significant. It challenges the often negative international narrative surrounding African migration, which tends to focus on containment and crisis. The DAP, by contrast, champions a proactive, African-led approach, recognizing the immense potential of its youth. It frames mobility not as a problem to be solved, but as a dynamic force for economic growth and continental development. The emphasis on empowering youth as 'active decision-makers' of their own destiny is a powerful affirmation of agency and a departure from externally imposed solutions. This initiative underscores a growing African confidence in its ability to chart its own course and leverage its demographic dividend for a brighter future.

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Staying in the country, a choice for fulfillment, and leaving, a voluntary option, not a flight due to lack of opportunities.