The 4^th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Youth Parliament was held at Africana Hotel in Kampala, Uganda from 14^th to 19^th April, 2018 under the theme, “Securing a better future for Africa: Role of the youth”. The term of the Youth Parliament is two (2) years. The current Youth Parliament was sworn in during the 3^rd Youth Parliament held in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2014 and its term ends at the 4th Youth Parliament which is being held in Kampala, Uganda.

CPA Africa Region Branches were invited to nominate two youths, one (1) male and one (1) female between the ages of eleven (11) and twenty one (21) years to participate in this event.  The CPA Zambia Branch was represented by Miss Yuhai Nyambusya, former pupil at Temweni Secondary School in Ndola and Mr Shepherd Simukonda, former pupil at David Kaunda National Technical Secondary School in Lusaka respectively.

The Official Opening of the 4^th CPA Youth Parliament was characterized mainly by speeches and cultural dancers.

In her welcoming message via a video, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda welcomed everyone with pleasure to the Pearl of Africa and expressed appreciation for the honor given to Uganda to host the 4^th CPA Youth Parliament. She informed everyone that in light of the theme for the meeting, there was need to address issues seriously. That was amplified by the need to create a better future for over 200 million youths who formed the core of the workforce of the continent of Africa. She further informed everyone of the need to realize that in those efforts towards preparing the best for young people and creating the right opportunities for them there was no time. The youth population was growing by the day, the pressures were mounting and with it, the attendants restless, leading to increased criminality and desperation. Furthermore, she encouraged those in authority to heed to the call and dedicate all efforts to ensure availability of affordable credit to steer commerce and industry, and to invest in human resource through offering the best possible education and create the right environment conducive to innovation in science and technology to drive progress.

Officiating at the 4^th CPA Youth Parliament on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament of Uganda, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, Parliamentary Commissioner Cecilia Atim Ogwal urged the African youths to reject foreign cultures and traditions including homosexuality as they prepared to take up leadership positions on the continent. She further warned that accepting the foreign cultures would be selling the future of Africa.  Ogwal, who is also the woman MP representing Dokolo district in Northern Uganda, stood in for the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga at the opening of the five days event. Before being elected as Parliamentary Commissioner, Ogwal was the Opposition Chief Whip and one of Uganda’s five representatives to the Pan African Parliament in South Africa and the Africa, Caribbean, Pacific and European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Ogwal said that as a member of the two international parliamentary bodies, she rejected arguments by South Africa and European countries that homosexuality was an expression of the rights of an individual. She was quick to point out that in Uganda, besides instituting national laws to promote youth empowerment, the country had also ratified and was a signatory to several international and regional instruments.

The Representative of the Chairperson, Executive Committee, CPA Africa Region, Hon Makali Mulu,  MP from Kenya in his speech said African youths had tremendous wealth and untapped potential of the youth aged 15 to 35 who were the majority population. He reiterated that the CPA Youth Parliament provided a platform to unlock the potential of the young people. He hoped that by the end of the Youth Parliament, the delegates would be nurtured into great future leaders in Africa through inculcating a sense of democratic and participatory decision making and policy formulation for the good societies.

Hon. Kabiru Mijinyama, Speaker of Adamawa State, Nigeria who represented the CPA Africa Regional Treasurer urged the youths to play their role in the development of their countries. Youths must believe that they could become big assets to national development both individually and collectively, if they worked hard. He also appealed for continued prioritization in addressing the issues affecting young people including HIV/AIDS, unemployment and underemployment.

On his part, the Director of Social Protection in Uganda’s ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development, James Ebitu challenged the youths to ensure that the resolutions made would address and call to action all stakeholders to prioritize the needs of the young Africans. Ebitu said that firm focus should be on education and skills development, job creation in sustainable job environment in emerging industries, as well as strengthening civic participation and leadership. He noted that the socioeconomic challenges faced by the youth are a global concern that all nations are grappling with while registering different levels of success.

The National Youth Female Youth MP, Hon. Anna Adeke urged participants to take up management positions available at all levels to prepare them for later leadership at national and regional level. Adeke said that her position as Guild President at Makerere University and later Speaker of the Students Council had prepared and given her experience to serve as Member of Parliament at the national level.  She further urged the youth to fully participate in leadership at all levels, in church, sports or in community. Furthermore, she encouraged the youth not be afraid to take up those leadership positions because Africa needed their experience. The youth MP also said that youth in leadership would bring forth models to fight corruption, drugs, unemployment and HIV/AIDS

The 4th CPA Africa Region Youth Parliament had attracted participants from Zambia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia and the host Uganda. The opening ceremony was held at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Uganda on Sunday 15^th April, 2018, while other sittings were held in the Parliament of Uganda Chamber.