Algeria is currently experiencing a dynamic that requires strengthening national cohesion through the active involvement of young people, in line with the directives of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who places strategic importance on youth. This is what Mustapha Hidaoui, Minister of Youth in charge of the Higher Youth Council, stated while presiding over the first edition of the annual iftar for youth actors in Algiers this Saturday, in the presence of more than 2,000 young people from across the country.
Mr. Hidaoui affirmed that “Algeria is currently experiencing a dynamic that requires us to strengthen national cohesion and consolidate the domestic front, while following the path traced by our predecessors who believed in the homeland and launched the glorious November Revolution.” He added that “the President of the Republic pays particular attention to empowering young people, involving them, and positioning them at the heart of the dynamic that Algeria is experiencing today.”
He assured that youth is called upon to become “the locomotive of the common national action,” stressing that the commitments made by several government sectors in favor of young people concretely translate this political orientation aimed at strengthening their participation in public, economic, and social life.
Discussing the role of the Higher Youth Council, Mr. Hidaoui recalled that this institution serves as a true platform for youth participation and mobilization, particularly in economic and innovation fields.
He emphasized that the Council fits into an intersectoral cooperation approach, involving sectors such as the knowledge economy, startups, and microenterprises, in order to create a favorable environment for youth initiative and engagement. He explained that the goal is to “strengthen the national convictions of youth and promote values of solidarity and mutual aid among Algerians,” adding that “the organization of this meeting precisely works to consolidate these national convictions among young people and to strengthen the values of solidarity and fraternity among the children of the Algerian people.”
The Legacy of November as a Reference
Speaking on this occasion on behalf of the President of the Republic, presidential advisor Mustapha Saïdj, for his part, called on Algerian youth to draw inspiration from the spirit and path of the liberation revolution’s leaders.
He recalled that the average age of the leaders who launched the November 1, 1954 revolution was only 26 years old, citing in particular the example of Mohamed Boudiaf, a member of the Group of 22, after whom the sports complex that hosted the meeting is now named.
He added that “the State’s current policy is in continuity with this historical legacy,” declaring that “the President of the Republic, consistent with his program and commitments inspired by the spirit of November 1954, is working to strengthen the political and economic involvement of young people and to enable them to assume responsibilities, as the young people of November did.”
In this context, he recalled that the text of the November 1, 1954 Proclamation was constitutionalized for the first time in the 2020 Constitution, reflecting the State’s will to preserve the historical reference of the Revolution and pass it on to new generations. Mr. Saïdj also mentioned the political reforms undertaken in recent years, particularly the new provisions related to laws on political parties and elections.
These texts provide in particular that “electoral lists, whether local or national, must include at least 50% young people, in order to promote their integration into the country’s political and institutional life.” He stressed that this orientation “is based on the conviction that youth constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of Algeria’s future.”
It should be noted that through this first edition of the youth actors’ iftar, the organizers sought to create a symbolic moment of gathering and dialogue, in the spirit of solidarity characteristic of the month of Ramadan, while highlighting the contribution of young people to the national project. The meeting was thus marked by the screening of several videos illustrating the cohesion between the people and the National People’s Army, as well as the initiatives and programs of the Higher Youth Council, with the aim of strengthening youth engagement in public life.