Essay theme
In July 2006, African Union Head of States and Governments meeting in Banjul, Gambia, endorsed the African Youth Charter (AYC) as a political and legal document which serves as the strategic framework that gives direction for youth empowerment and development at continental, regional and national levels. Nigeria (in addition to its ownership of a National Youth Policy) is one of 28 members states of the African Union that have signed and ratified the African Youth Charter as at April 2012.
Share creative ideas and approaches on how the charter can become a national document with adoption at the state and local government level. This should also detail thoughts on how young people can be motivated to show interest in the document. The essay should also include thoughts on how the adoption of the document would affect the practice of democracy and governance in Nigeria. We would also love to hear from you the benefit(s) that this would rub off on the country’s national development. And more specifically, how you can clearly and creatively ensure the content of the continental document is known and understood by your peers.
Assessment
The essay would be assessed based on simplicity of ideas proposed, elegance of language, originality, relevance of ideas, creativity and references. Please note that plagiarism is not permitted and information from Wikipedia would not be entertained for reference purpose. The choice of reference style rests with the writer.
Language
The essay must be written in English language.
Format
Every essay entry must have a cover page with the following details – Essay title, full name (surname first), age, sex, profession (with details), physical address, email address, twitter handle, telephone number and total word count of essay. The second page should be an executive summary of 250 words or less. Subsequent pages should be the essay entry with title of essay and page numbers established as footer on each of the pages. The references should make up the last page(s); (Please note the instructions carefully).
Eligibility
The contest is open to young people as recognised by the Nigerian National Youth Policy; people between ages 18 and 35 as at December 31st, 2013. The essay is only open to Nigerians resident in the country.
Submission
The length of the essay should not be more than 1,500 words asides the title and references. All submissions should be word document attached as a single document in an email and sent to editor@youthhubafrica.org on or before 11:01pm GMT, November 2nd, 2013 (there would be no extension of deadline).Essay should be submitted with African Youth Charter Essay as the subject line.
Winners/Prizes
10 winners will be announced on the 14th of November, 2013. Prizes would be awarded to the top three winners and seven other runners up in addition to a certificate of accomplishment. The winning essays would also be published in a booklet and on the Youthhubafrica website to be used for further publicity of the cause.
First Prize – Samsung Mini Laptop
Second Prize – Blackberry Curve 6
Third Prize – 1 Terabyte Hard Drive
7 consolation Prizes – 4GB Flash Drive
Terms
By submitting an entry for this competition, it is assumed that the work is an original effort of the author and has not been published anywhere else. The copyright of the essay is also transferred to the organisers and it means they can use part or whole of the document for promotional purpose or for any other legal reason it deems fit. It is also assumed that all personal details provided by the author are correct and verifiable. The judges’ decision will be final and the organisers would not enter into any correspondence with any competitor based on the final result of the contest.
Deadline – 11pm GMT, November 2nd, 2013.
You can download the African Youth Charter Application to your mobile phone here OR a PDF version of the African Youth Charter here
Comments are closed.
why cant you guys make it open for even those who are not in naigeria let it be a continental competition
We are sorry about that. we do not have sufficient resources to cover the continent. Kind regards
in a simple term, on which field or subject or topic of the essay. or one can chose any topic he/she feel he can write on. thks
that depends on your interpretation of the essay narration, and its totally up to you. But note, the focus is on how to domesticate and popularise the charter
hi thanks.
can a 17 years old participate? if no then age forgery.
Good evening. Does the word count include the personal details required on the cover page and the executive summary of 250 words? Thanks.
NO. the word count doesn’t include summary and cover page. Regards
Good day and well done. Please I’m having some confusions here. Has this contest been substituted by the continental one or do this still hold? The contests seem to be similar but have slightly different terms (and even deadlines). Please, clarify asap. Thanks.
the contest are different. Both are running differently and with different deadline. Kind regards