{"id":60331,"date":"2026-02-21T00:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/youth-charter-calls-for-sport-led-youth-action-following-african-union-summit-in-addis-ababa\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:03:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:03:03","slug":"youth-charter-calls-for-sport-led-youth-action-following-african-union-summit-in-addis-ababa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/youth-charter-calls-for-sport-led-youth-action-following-african-union-summit-in-addis-ababa\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Charter Calls for Sport-Led Youth Action Following African Union Summit in Addis Ababa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"press-body-in\">\n                            <span><br \/>\n                                                            LONDON, United Kingdom, February 20, 2026\/APO Group\/ &#8212;<br \/>\n                                                        <\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apo-opa.co\/4kOK81o\" rel=\"noopener\">www.YouthCharter.org<\/a>) has welcomed the outcomes of the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the\u00a0African Union, held in\u00a0Addis Ababa, and is calling for immediate implementation mechanisms that translate Summit commitments into grassroots impact.<\/p>\n<p>The Assembly adopted the 2026 Theme of the Year:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cEnsuring sustainable water availability and safe sanitation systems to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alongside this, African leaders reaffirmed the importance of youth empowerment, digital innovation, skills development, and inclusive growth as central pillars of continental transformation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning Policy into Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter believes these priorities must now be delivered where young people live, learn and play at community level.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Geoff Thompson, MBE, FRSA, DL, Chair of Youth Charter, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfrica\u2019s youth are its greatest asset. The commitments made in Addis Ababa are significant but they must now be visible on the ground. Sport provides one of the most powerful and scalable platforms to engage, equip and empower young people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Water, Sanitation and Safe Sport Participation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The AU\u2019s adoption of water and sanitation as a continental priority presents a clear opportunity to strengthen safe and inclusive youth participation.<\/p>\n<p>Youth Charter Africa is proposing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Installation of safe water access at Community Campuses<\/li>\n<li>Gender-sensitive sanitation facilities to support girls\u2019 participation<\/li>\n<li>Integration of WASH education into sport and cultural programmes<\/li>\n<li>Safeguarding frameworks aligned with AU youth policies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cSafe water and sanitation are not separate from youth development,\u201d Thompson added. \u201cThey are foundational to participation, dignity and opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leveraging Major Sporting Milestones<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Africa\u2019s sporting calendar in 2026 offers further opportunity to embed sustainable youth legacy infrastructure, including the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n<p>Youth Charter is urging continental institutions and Member States to convert major event visibility into permanent community assets through its Community Campus model.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Community Campus Model<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Engage \u2013 Equip \u2013 Empower<\/strong>\u00a0framework integrates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grassroots sport and cultural activity<\/li>\n<li>Accredited Social Coach training<\/li>\n<li>Digital literacy and employability pathways<\/li>\n<li>Youth leadership development<\/li>\n<li>Measurable socio-economic impact tracking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each Community Campus operates as a hub for youth opportunity, health promotion, peacebuilding and economic participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Call to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Youth Charter Africa is seeking:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Formal technical engagement with the\u00a0African Union Commission<\/li>\n<li>Pilot Community Campus partnerships in 3\u20135 Member States<\/li>\n<li>Collaboration with Regional Economic Communities<\/li>\n<li>Public\u2013private blended financing to support initial rollout<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The proposed three-year pilot model represents an investment of \u00a3258,750 per Community Campus, with blended funding from government, development finance, corporate CSR and philanthropy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Youth Charter Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter is a UK-based international NGO with over 30 years\u2019 experience delivering sport for development and peace programmes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Africa Foundation builds on this legacy to support Agenda 2063 delivery across the continent.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/press\/youth-charter-calls-for-sportled-youth-action-following-african-union-summit-in-addis-ababa?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON, United Kingdom, February 20, 2026\/APO Group\/ &#8212; The Youth Charter (www.YouthCharter.org) has welcomed the outcomes of the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the\u00a0African Union, held in\u00a0Addis Ababa, and is calling for immediate implementation mechanisms that translate Summit commitments into grassroots impact. The Assembly adopted the 2026 Theme of the Year: \u201cEnsuring sustainable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/0430266e7905791","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/0430266e7905791","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}