Presse Jeune - Cameroon

Presse Jeune is an apolitical, nonpartisan network of youth organisations designed to foster the development of communication among youth. These networks include: School and University Press Network, Association Press Network, Young Women in the Media Network, Young Communication Professionals Network, and Cameroon Council on Youth and Population.Created in 1994, Presse Jeune brings together approximately 6000 youths from primary and secondary schools, universities, and professional media. Presse Jeune was officially recognised by the Cameroon government in May, 1997.The specific objectives of the programme are to:

• increase awareness of the role of communication in youth development and improve international cooperation in the area of youth media;
• encourage both youth who have developed an active voice in the community and important personalities who have rendered outstanding services to youth;
• promote and support youth participation in sustainable human development;
• promote, produce, and distribute youth publications in the domain of print media
• stimulate girls' interest in the communication profession and promote women's image in the media;
• strengthen solidarity and cooperation among youth and facilitate their access to new communication technologies; and
• promote further training of youth in the communication profession.

Main Communication Strategies
Publications include "Rebondir Magazine", which encourages youth participation in humandevelopment; "Le journal des Enfants", a publication for children between 7 and 13 years old, and for students at secondary schools and colleges; and " Agir Magazine", which focusses on youths' health.

There is also a training component to Presse Jeune. The initiative provides a computer and language training centre, an information and documentation centre (Centre Info Jeune), an internet center, workshops and a multimedia information centre on HIV/AIDS for young journalists, a programme for primary and secondary press animators, and a documentation centre on youth in the press.

Specific activities of the organisation have included setting up a website in the context of the 1997 presidential elections, creating and animating school internet clubs, and co-organising activities marking the International Day of Press Freedom in Cameroon (in collaboration with UNESCO). Members have also participated in the third session of the World Forum for Youths and the UN (in Braga), the First World Conference of Ministries of Youth of the UN (in Lisbonne), The Hague Invitation on Peace and the March on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (in the Netherlands), the International Symposium on Intergenerational Understanding (in Quebec), the International NGO conference (in Seoul), the African Development Forum (in Addis Ababaand), and the World Parliament for Children (in Paris).