REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Paix-Travail-Patrie REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland
1st Africa Region Commonwealth Youth Ministers' Meeting 8 – 10 February 2015, Yaoundé Conference Centre
OPENING SPEECH DELIVERED BY:
H.E. PHILEMON YANG Prime Minister, Head of Government Personal Representative of the President of the Republic of Cameroon
Yaoundé Conference Centre, Monday 09 February 2015
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- Your Excellency The Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth;
- Commonwealth Ministers in charge of Youth Development from Africa Region Commonwealth member countries;
- Members of Government of the Republic of Cameroon;
- Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Representaives of International Organisations
- The President, Pan African Youth Union;
- The Africa Region Representative, Commonwealth Youth Council;
- The President, Cameroon National Youth Council;
- Youth Delegates from Commonwealth member countries of the Africa Region.
- Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased on behalf of His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, and my personal behalf to wish you a very warm welcome to cameroon
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I wish to thank Mr Kiziah Philbert, Africa Region Representative of the Commonwealth Youth Council for his kind words, and also Excellency Deodat Maharaj, Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth for his remarks.
The Republic of Cameroon is once more delighted to set the stage for forward thinking exchanges such as this 1st Africa Region Commonwealth Youth Ministers' Meeting. You would recall that in November 2014, members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association gathered in this same hall for over a week to discuss common issues affecting the operations of parliamentary institutions across Commonwealth member countries.
Specifically talking about youth development, I recall that in July 2013, the former Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Masire Mwamba, participated in the discussions led by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education on the broad concepts of civic education and national integration.
This 1st Africa Region Commonwealth Youth Ministers' Meeting on the theme; "Young people, building a stable and sustainable future" comes at a time when our societies are experiencing social, economic, political, technological, cultural, and security transformations, carrying with it different opportunities and different challenges to our nations and the Commonwealth.
In these transition, the young people of our nations occupy the centre stage - either positively leading the innovations that
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contribute to the advancement of society or negatively imposing strategies that promote counter productive vices towards development.
As you all know, the Republic of Cameroon has always been referred to as Africa in Miniature, an island of peace. Over the past few months Cameroon's peace and national security has been threatened by the terrorist sect Boko-Haram. Another member of the Commonwealth family, our neighbours of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Boko Haram has created more serious problems of insecurity. The same applies to the Republic of Kenya, that has been battling extremists and terrorists movements.