4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit opens in Abidjan

Young people from Africa and Europe, including representatives of the African Diaspora, are gathering in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 9-11 October to take part in the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit. While at the Summit, the delegates will engage in lively debate, with a view to developing recommendations and solutions to put forward to Heads of State at the 5th AU-EU Summit, also to be held in Abidjan, on 29-30 November.

A total of 120 motivated young people from Africa and Europe, selected from over 7500 applicants, will discuss issues of importance to youth on both continents. Following this discussion, the participants will put forward a series of recommendations to the AU-EU Summit in six thematic areas: education & skills, peace & security, governance & inclusion, environment & climate, business & job creation, and culture & arts.

The Youth Summit will kick off with an opening ceremony attended by the Presidents of the Pan-African Youth Union Francine Muyumba and the European Youth Forum Luis Alvarado Martinez. Also participating will be Côte d’Ivoire National Youth Council President Emmanuel Edima N’Guessan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan and Minister of Youth, Youth Employment and Civic Service Sidi Tiémoko Toure, Head of the African Union Commission Department of Human Resources Science and Technology’s Human Resources & Youth Division Prudence Nonkululeko Ngewnya, and Birgitte Markussen, Deputy Managing Director, MD Africa, European External Action Service, among others.

The Youth Summit has been organised by youth organisation platforms in Africa and Europe (the Pan-African Youth Union, the Network of International Youth Organisations in Africa, and the European Youth Forum) as well as diaspora organisations (ADYNE, ADYFE and ACP-YPN), with input from the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe. It is supported by the European Union in partnership with the African Union together with Côte d'Ivoire as the hosting country.

“Investing in Youth for a Sustainable Future” will be an overarching theme of the 5th AU-EU Summit in November, at which African and European Heads of State will discuss the priorities of their partnership for the years to come. By bringing together engaged and motivated representatives from African European and Diaspora youth organisations, the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit will strengthen their participation in political processes and allow young people to become involved as active agenda-setters in decision-making processes that affect their future.

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Background

The 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit builds on ten years of Africa-Europe youth cooperation related to institutional processes in the African Union and the European Union. The first Africa-Europe Youth Summit was held in 2007 with the aim of increasing the participation of young people in Africa-Europe cooperation, reinforcing youth work in both regions and influencing youth policy on both continents.

2017 is a defining year for the Partnership between Europe and Africa. The 5th Africa-EU Summit, due to take place on 29-30 November 2017, provides a critical opportunity for African Union and European Union Leaders to respond to evolving global challenges and reshape and deepen the Africa-EU Partnership.

For more information, contact:

Richard Daly: richard.daly@gopacom.eu

About the European Youth Forum

The European Youth Forum is the platform of youth organisations in Europe. Independent, democratic, youth-led, it represents over 100 National Youth Councils and international youth organisations from across the continent. The Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives, by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations towards the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. For more information, visit www.youthforum.org