REPORT Visit of the Delegation of the European Youth Parliament to the 5th African Youth and Governance Conference Accra, Ghana, 5th - 13th August 2013
Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Team 3. Preparations 4. AYGC Participation 5. Follow Up - Common plans for the future
European Youth Parliament - SophienstraĂ&#x;e 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
1. Introduction In December 2012, the International Office of the European Youth Parliament was approached by the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), regarding a partnership with the Accra-based Ghanaian organisation Youthbridge Foundation. The Youthbridge Foundation (YBF) runs a wide range of project and programmes designed to increase young people’s interest in politics and give them a chance to get involved. Among these activities is the annual African Youth and Governance Conference, which brings together young people from all over Africa for several days to work on pressing political topics. After a meeting of the YBF’s Executive Director, Mr Seth Oteng, and the EYP’s Jacob Düringer, both organisations agreed to look for partnership opportunities, especially regarding the possibility for common youth parliament events in the future. In April 2013, four staff members of the Youthbridge Foundation visited the 72nd International Session of the European Youth Parliament in Munich, marking the first activity of our partnership. The second step in the process of our two organisations getting to know each other was the return visit: Thus, ten EYP Alumni went to Ghana to participate in the 5th African Youth and Governance Conference.
Arrival of the EYP Delegation, Accra International Airport European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
2.
The Team
The process started by putting out a call for delegation members. The International Office of the EYP received a total of 63 applications for the eight open spots on the delegation, joining staff members Stefan Vandenhende and Jacob Düringer. Eventually, the team consisted of ten members: Jacob Düringer (30, DE) is a Project Manager at the International Office of the European Youth Parliament. Before joining the EYP in 2011, he studied Politics and European Studies in Berlin, Osnabrück, and Rome and worked in political science research and international youth exchange. Stefan Vandenhende (23, BE) is a Project Manager at the International Office of the European Youth Parliament since February 2013. Before, he studied International Politics and EU Studies in Gent and Stockholm. He started EYP in 2007 as volunteer on national and international level, and is the former president of EYP Belgium. Hanna Ollinen, (22, FI) a bachelor in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School, started EYP in 2007 and has been actively involved on regional, national and international level. She is an avid chess player and is currently ranked in the top three in Finland.
Sofia Zafeiriou (22, GR) is an Electrical and Computer Engineering student in Athens. She has been in involved in EYP since 2005 and is a former president of EYP Greece.
Jonathan Engel (21, DE) from Berlin studies Political Sciences and German Public Law and is active in EYP since 2010, currently as a board member of EYP Germany.
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Anar Kucera (28, CZ) is currently a member of the Governing Body (board) of the European Youth Parliament on the International level and a former president of EYP Czech Republic. He studied Political Sciences in Berlin and currently works in the European Parliament in Brussels. Maximilian Kiehn (21, DE) is a second year student for Northern European Studies and Scandinavism at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He started EYP in 2009 during his school exchange in Finland and works currently as a board member of EYP Germany. Célia Poncelin (19, FR) started to study political sciences last year in Grenoble, after having studied International Law and Languages. She has been involved in EYP France since 2010 and is currently a member of the national board.
Gráinne Hawkes (21, IE) is a final year law student having just completed an Erasmus year majoring in law and international relations. She has been involved in EYP since 2009 and is a former Alumni Officer of EYP Ireland.
Sophie Debrunner Hall (21, CH) grew up in Scotland and Switzerland, where she now studies Political Science and History in Zurich. She has been involved in EYP since 2009 and is currently the Vice-President of EYP Switzerland.
European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
3. Preparations After the participants were chosen, preparations started, particularly to obtain visa and all necessary vaccinations for the journey to Ghana. From August 2nd to 4th 2013, the delegation came together in Berlin to prepare for the trip. They were joined over the course of the weekend by Agnes Schneidt and Philipp Schwoerer from GIZ Agenz, who outlined the framework of the Commitment for Africa programme, as well as by former GIZ development advisor Johannes PreuĂ&#x; and politics professor Salua Nour from the Free University Berlin.
On August 4th, the delegation flew to Accra, where they arrived one day later. The first two days were filled with getting to know the staff members of the Youthbridge Foundation and making plans for the days ahead. Also, we visited the Ghanaian Minister of Youth and Sports, Elvis Afriye Ankrah in the Ministry. The other participants of the Conference arrived on the evening of August 6th, and the Conference was officially opened on the 7th.
European Youth Parliament - SophienstraĂ&#x;e 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
4.
AYGC Participation
The EYP delegation participated in the 5th African Youth and Governance Conference, held in Accra’s Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) from August 7th – 9th 2013. While the main goal of their visit was to get to know the Youthbridge Foundation and their formats, they did not participate as mere spectators. Delegation members prepared with YBF staff beforehand and took an active role in several areas during the Conference. After the visit of YBF to the International Session of the EYP in Munich in April 2013, it became clear that they were interested to take over specific elements of EYP in a first step: Teambuilding and Session Media. We thus held a Teambuilding programme to be held in the mornings. Doing so, we discovered that the “European Map” we often form in EYP works as an African Map just as well. We also took the lead in the production of the Session newspaper “The Bridge”, producing one issue which was published on the third day of the Conference. Stefan Vandenhende and Jacob Düringer also presented the methodology and structure of the EYP to the Conference participants in a plenary session.
Stefan Vandenhende and Jacob Düringer present EYP at the Conference European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
Célia Poncelin, Gráinne Hawkes and Hanna Ollinen put their heads together in the preparation of the Conference Newspaper “The Bridge”
EYP-led Teambuilding Session on the start of the 2nd Conference Day European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
Dancing during the Welcome Dinner
A gift to EYP from Seth Oteng, Executive Director of the Youthbridge Foundation European Youth Parliament - SophienstraĂ&#x;e 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
5.
Follow Up - Common plans for the future
While the EYP delegation actively participated in the 5th African Youth and Governance Conference, the main purpose of their visit was to get to know the Youthbridge Foundation, the people who work from them and the work they do. They did get the chance to do this during the Conference, but also before and after, by visiting the YBF’s headquarters and by sitting down with YBF staff to work on further plans for the partnership. These interactions proved to be very fruitful. Concretely, plans were made for the 1st ever Euro-African Youth Parliament (EAYP), which we plan to hold as a cooperation event of the two partners in Berlin in April 2014. This Session, building on EYP’s well-developed methodology, is expected to bring together 100 young people, in equal numbers from both Europe and Africa. The Session will include Teambuilding, Committee Work and a General Assembly and will work on topics concerning both continents. Moreover, to ensure the organisational learning for both partners, all officials teams will have both African and European participants.
The EYP Delegation getting to know Youthbridge Foundation staff and delegates from the African Diaspora group through some informal interaction European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin
The partnership of the European Youth Parliament and the Youthbridge Foundation is made possible by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), on behalf of the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany in the programme “Commitment for Africa.” We are very grateful for their support, without which the visit of the EYP delegation would not have been possible.
European Youth Parliament - Sophienstraße 28-29 - 10178 Berlin