DAMATURU – The Youth Alliance on Constitution and Electoral Reform (YACORE), an NGO, has begun awareness campaign to educate northern youths on non-violence in electoral participation ahead of the 2015 polls.
This is contained in a statement on Friday in Bauch, signed by the National Coordinator of YACORE, Malam Abdulrahaman Hamisu.
The programme was organised by YACORE and the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) with support from UNDP Democratic for Good Governance.
According to the statement, the objective of the conference is to enlighten the youth on the nation’s electoral process, to mobilise volunteers to complement INEC in delivering its mandate on voter education.
” This will enable the commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections.”
The statement said that one key outcome of the engagement was the popularisation of the Nigerian Youth Agenda on Political Participation which articulated policy frameworks on youths participation in electoral process.
It explained that the agenda captured the views and aspirations of young people, irrespective of political, religious, ethnic and sectional interests.
” Through the instrumentality of this document, a template for increasing youth participation in politics and decision making will be adopted by different stakeholders in the electoral process.
” This will bridge the gap between youths in political parties and the leaders of youth civil society organisations.
The statement noted that the awareness campaign was part of effort to ensure a nationwide popularisation campaign of the agenda for advocacy, voter education and youth mobilisation.
According to the statement, the programme features panel discussions and group sessions on enhancing participation through the instrumentality of the youth agenda document.
” Programme participants are drawn from political parties and youth civil society organisations working in the area of governance and elections, ” it stated. (NAN)
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