AFRICAN YOUTH CHARTER • 3 Foreword The African Union Constitutive Act and the African Union Commission strategic plan 2004-2007 give due priority to youth development and empowerment. They underscore the importance of youth participation and involvement in the development of the continent. Indeed, Africa’s renaissance cannot be realized if adequate investment is not made in the youth who constitute about 40 percent of the African population. To give substance to this commitment to the development of African youth, the AU has since developed a policy framework in the form of the African Youth Charter, which prescribes responsibilities to Member States for the development of youth. The Summit of Heads of State and Government adopted this Charter at their Summit in Banjul in July 2006. The African Youth Charter does not only provide the Governments, Youth, Civil Society and International Partners with a continental framework, which underlines to the rights, duties and freedoms of youth. It also paves the way for the development of national programmes and strategic plans for their empowerment. The second key objective of the Youth Charter is to ensure the constructive involvement of Youth in the development agenda of Africa and their effective participation in the debates and decisionmaking processes in the development of the continent. The Charter sets a framework to enable policy makers to mainstream Youth issues in all development policies and programmes. It thus provides a legal basis for ensuring Youth presence and participation in government structures and forums at national, regional and continental levels. Thirdly, the Charter provides important guidelines and responsibilities of Member States for the empowerment of Youth in key strategic