Yaoundé, Cameroon — March 4–5, 2026 — The Cameroon Youth Awards (CYA) is set to host the National Youth Breakfast (NYB) in Yaoundé, bringing together young leaders, innovators, and professionals from across the country for a two-day dialogue and policy exchange platform.
The event, scheduled for March 4–5 at the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bastos, is expected to gather between 50 and 70 youth leaders, innovators, civic actors, and professionals. It will also include representatives from development agencies, diplomatic missions, civil society, and public institutions.
The NYB aims to provide a neutral, solution — oriented space to connect youth-driven innovation with institutional expertise.
In a nation addressing challenges such as youth unemployment, limited access to quality public services, climate vulnerability, and governance concerns, the initiative seeks to ensure that young people are active contributors to policy, not just beneficiaries.
According to the CYA, youth across Cameroon are already leading initiatives in employment, entrepreneurship, public service delivery, climate action, and civic participation.
However, many of these efforts remain under — recognized and lack structured opportunities for engagement with policymakers and development actors.
The NYB is designed to address this gap by creating a credible, inclusive, and recurring platform for constructive dialogue.
The Cameroon Youth Awards, which convenes the NYB, is a national platform dedicated to recognizing and amplifying the impact of young leaders and innovators.
Through awards programs, mentorship initiatives, and dialogue platforms, the CYA identifies and showcases outstanding youth — led solutions to social, economic, environmental, and civic challenges.
The forum will not seek direct financial or project funding but will prioritize visibility for youth — led initiatives, knowledge exchange, capacity building, mentorship, and access to institutional networks. Discussions and activities will align with key national and global development priorities, including youth employment, entrepreneurship and skills development, public service delivery, climate action, governance, democracy, and civic participation.
On the first day, participants will engage in youth pitches and interactive dialogue sessions, where selected young leaders will present innovative initiatives and policy ideas.
The second day will focus on youth leadership and civic engagement sessions, thematic breakout workshops, and a plenary reflection aimed at outlining a way forward.
The event targets young leaders between the ages of 22 and 35, with balanced representation across regions, gender, and sectors.
Development partners, United Nations agencies, embassies, and institutions have been invited to engage through technical facilitation, participation in policy exchange sessions, capacity — building workshops, and mentorship opportunities.
The National Youth Breakfast is expected to lead to increased visibility for youth — led initiatives and policy ideas, strengthened trust between youth and institutions, and enhanced understanding of youth perspectives on governance and development. It also aims to identify concrete collaboration and mentorship opportunities and lay the foundation for a recurring national youth-institution engagement platform.
Further details are expected as the event approaches.
