From Commitment to Accountability: Citizen-Led Monitoring of Africa's Common Position on Debt
Overview
Youth for Tax Justice Network (YTJN) joins Transparency International Kenya and TrustAfrica to host a side session at the 6th Edition of the African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD VI). The session is titled "From Commitment to Accountability: Citizen-Led Monitoring of Africa's Common Position on Debt."
Why this session matters
Africa adopted the Common African Position (CAP) on Debt as a continental framework for debt justice, African agency and reform of the global financial architecture. A framework only works if citizens can track it. This session moves the conversation from commitment to implementation. It asks a direct question. How do citizens monitor and influence a continental debt framework in their own countries.
What the session covers
The panel brings together three organisations with different strengths. TI Kenya brings its transparency and anti-corruption expertise. YTJN brings youth-led monitoring and civic mobilization. TrustAfrica brings its pan-African policy network. Together they examine:
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Debt cycle transparency - The session traces transparency requirements across borrowing, spending and repayment.
Public debt audits - Independent audits as a tool for citizens to verify how borrowed money is used.
Procurement and oversight - Public procurement tied to debt-financed projects and the oversight gaps that allow leakage.
Beneficial ownership - Who really controls the companies that win debt-financed contracts.
Illicit financial flows - The link between weak debt oversight and money leaving the continent through illicit channels.
Youth-led monitoring - Young people as active monitors of debt commitments, not passive recipients of debt outcomes.
Civic mobilization - Sustained public pressure as the mechanism that keeps governments accountable to CAP commitments.
How the session works
This is not a standard panel. Participants take part in an interactive panel discussion, open audience engagement and a practical accountability exercise. The exercise asks participants to identify priority commitments, indicators, responsible actors and the evidence needed to track progress on each one.
The outcome
The session produces a joint Citizen Accountability Agenda for the Common African Position on Debt. This agenda gives citizens, civil society and youth movements a shared tool to hold governments accountable for CAP commitments long after the conference ends.
YTJN's role
Youth for Tax Justice Network brings its youth-led monitoring model to this partnership. Young people across Africa carry the weight of debt decisions made today. YTJN insists they also carry a seat at the table for tracking how those decisions play out.
Follow YTJN's channels for updates from AfCoDD VI and the launch of the Citizen Accountability Agenda.
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