In October 2020, the African Union Youth Envoy, Aya Chebbi, had an audience with the Namibian President, Hage Geingob, and spoke at the opening of the South Sudan National Dialogue, where the tenets and recommendations of the report: Greater Inclusion of African Youth in Public Service and Governance were put forward.
Copies of the report have also been distributed to the AU Commission Chairperson Mousa Faki and the 55 African Union member states represented in Addis Ababa. Copies were also shared with the Ambassadors to the AU from Algeria, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa.
The report is the result of a collaboration between the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy and AFLI’s Project Pakati, which is funded by the Ford Foundation. It was launched on August 12, 2020 – International Youth Day – and following the launch, the focus is now on engaging various African governments to encourage them to implement progressive policies that bring young people into decisionmaking roles, in a bid to close the governance and generational gap on the continent. Africa urgently need young people at the table – with new ideas and fresh thinking - to help co-create solutions to Africa's most pressing challenges, if the trajectory of the continent is to change.
At the handover ceremony, the Namibian president tweeted about the report and its importance. Aya Chebbi also tweeted a video of the report presentation to the South Sudan Dialogue.
The report is practical with five best-practice African case studies that illustrate how governance spaces can be opened up to let young leaders in. It promotes how African countries can learn from other African countries.
Report