REPORT OF THE 2ND AFRICA-EUROPE YOUTH PLATFORM MEETING HELD FROM OCTOBER 31ST TO NOVEMBER 3RD 2013 IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
BACKGROUND OF THE MEETING Following up on the recommendations of the Youth Leaders Meeting on Youth Policies in the th Context of the Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation, held in Addis Ababa on 10-13 April 2011, the African and European youth representatives built a common action plan on the development of the Africa- Europe Youth Cooperation framework (2012-2015) and implementation of the recommendations resulting from the Africa-Europe Youth Summits. This included the establishment of an Africa-Europe Youth Platform, of which the core mission, objectives and composition are as follows: • Preparation/coordination of the Africa-Europe Youth cooperation; • Monitoring of the Africa-Europe youth cooperation; 3 • Evaluation/follow-up of the Africa-Europe youth cooperation; The Africa-Europe Youth Platform held its first constitutive meeting in 4-8 November 2012 at the headquarters of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa. The meeting included a th seminar a one day seminar titled ‘Decent Work and Youth Unemployment’ on the 5 of November 2012. The Seminar brought together African and European youth representatives and institutions to tackle youth unemployment, a key issue that is also framed in one of the Africa-EU Partnerships (Migration, Mobility and Employment). REPRESENTATIVES OF NIYOA The Network of International Youth Organizations in Africa was represented at the meeting by: • Abdrahamane Ouedraogo, Vice Chairperson • Nelson Opany, World Organization of the Scout Movement-Africa • Delphine Konda, International Falcon Movement-Socialist Educational International • Martin Mande, Federation Iternationale des Mouvements Catholiques d’Action Paroissale • Kossivi Adessou, Global Young Greens Unfortunately the Chairperson, Chantal Bengaly, did not manage to attend due to visa problems OBJECTIVES OF THE 2ND AFRICA-EUROPE YOUTH PLATFORM MEETING This second meeting took place from October 31st to November 3rd 2013 at the Atlas Hotel in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting brought together youth leaders drawn from the partners in Africa and Europe including the Pan African Youth Union, Network of International Youth Organizations in Africa, European Youth Forum, African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe, Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe and the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. Also in attendance was the Special Envoy of the Council of Europe to the AfricaEurope Heads of States Summit This second meeting was chaired by the European Youth Forum and had the following objectives: • To get acquainted with the overall framework of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership;
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To assess the implementation of the 2012-2015 AEYC Action Plan; To reflect about the role of the AEYP and its members in the implementation of the 20122015 Action Plan; rd To launch preparations towards the 3 Africa-Europe Youth Summit (April 2014), by creating working groups and defining a joint calendar and action.
AGENDA OF THE MEETING Participants arrived on Thursday, 31st October. Later in the evening there was a joint introductory session to get acquainted with each other and set the agenda for the meeting. The following day began with an official opening ceremony followed by the session “From Lisbon to Brussels: Journey of the Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation. The session looked at key achievements and challenges of the post Lisbon processes, with examples of some of the successful cooperation activities undertaken. The meeting then deliberated on the “State of the Africa-Europe Cooperation with regard to the implementation of the 2012-2015 Action Plan” with reports on areas of work and commitments made previously. This was then followed by “Towards the 2014 Africa-Europe Youth Summit”; a session that delved into developing a framework for the entire summit including the participation, agenda, methods of delivery, facilitations, pre-summit consultations, external relations of the summit and putting in place a Steering Group to take lead in the preparation process. The meeting ended with a brief evaluation and statements of commitments from the members of the platform amidst great enthusiasm towards the Africa-Europe Youth Summit expected to take place in April 2014. Monday 3rd of November was a day set aside for departure but also provided the members an opportunity to walk around and see Lisbon. KEY OUTCOMES OF THE MEETING Below is a summary of the outcomes of the deliberations made at the meeting: From Lisbon to Brussels: Journey of the Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation • The Joint Africa Europe Strategy is the political framework and the Cotonou Agreement is the legal framework upon which the partnership is established • The relationship between young people of Africa and Europe had clearly changed for the better as a result of the many efforts made-the dialogue is authentic the relationship is mutual and based on shared values • Institutionalization of the cooperation through the platform has greatly helped to address the issue of representation of African youth • Capacity strengthening and training of youth leaders has been another great achievement • 2nd Africa-Europe Youth Summit brought out dialogue and cross-cultural interactions as very essential in achieving meaningful cooperation • Pan-African Youth Movement (PYM) was formed in 1962 as a mobilization of African youth for the decolonization of Africa and as a result of the cooperation the movement has transformed into Pan-African Youth Union (PYU) in 2003 working with National Youth Councils and in connection with International Youth Organizations working in Africa as key players in the development processes in Africa • The emergences of African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe (ADYNE) is also attributed to the outcomes of the Post Lisbon processes. Levels of the Africa-Europe Cooperation • Decision Making Level – including the Heads of States Summit and co-operation of ministers of the members states • Consultative Level- where parliaments work together to feed into the discussions through local authorities, Africa Europe Business Forum, Civil Society Organizations Forum-under which the youth cooperation falls • Implementation Level-through joint task forces established for specific areas in the
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African Union and European Union Challenges to the Cooperation • Priorities and challenges still remain as enshrined in the JAES in 2007 • Development planning is still slow and unable to keep pace with the growing population State of the Cooperation: Implementation of the 2012-2015 Action Plan • 5th African university on Youth and Development took place in May in Cape Verde. However it might not take place next year as envisioned as the centre doesn't have the capacity to coordinate the activity. Its not known yet whether or not and when and when it will be held. • 9th Africa-Europe Training course for Youth and Development in Cape Verde • 4th Training Course for African Diaspora • 2nd Training of Trainers at the 14th University on Youth and Development • Production of Training on Pedagogical resources was not done • Seed Funding: Had 80 applications and only 30 were funded • The online resource centre was launched in May 2013 and has a consultancy given out to help in translations, keep it running and make it a channel of communication among members of the platform • Appointment of contact persons on communication to feed into AEYCO • Global Education on Trainers of Trainers in Mollina • The African university in Cape Verde Emerging Issues • The cooperation should also look at the role played by Africa in the development of Europe as opposed to only the contribution of Europe to Africa • Disappointment of the African youth on the political cooperation with perceived protection of corrupt African leaders by the European Union • Its important to define what is there in the cooperation for young people in both continents • The inadequate access to labour market for youth in Africa is greatly inked to professional training and economic growth • The issues of natural resources in Africa are not included as priorities in the JAES • Migration and Mobility in had a direct relation to security and access to opportunities • The growing call for resource nationalization in Africa could shape the future of business relations with Europe • There is disconnect between policies/agreements/partnerships and real actions that provide solutions to needs of the people • What are the systems and structures in place to track implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the JAES; and what could be role of the Youth Organizations in this evaluation process? (DEVCO is preparing a report on the progress of the cooperation to be presented at the HoS summit, though its difficult to ascertain what impact is solely generated by JAES) • Economic partnership Agreements (EPA) between AU and EU should be for long term benefits instead of short term gains • Consular issues regarding movement of young people between the two continents need to be addressed in order to promote the participation of youth leaders in this cooperation e.g. Denial of visas for Malian and Egyptian youth leaders to attend this platform meeting Towards the 2014 Africa-Europe Youth Summit • The Africa-Europe Youth Summit was formed to highlight the voice of the youth in the cooperation that wasn't part of the Civil Society Organizations forum. • It is a good opportunity to display common positions of the various sensitive and controversial issues. • The next summit will be held some time in March/April 2014 in Brussels, Belgium • Investing in People, Peace and Prosperity and People could be the main working theme • The EYF is already in consultation with the Council of Europe (CoE) through DEVCO
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regarding organization of the summit The platform should present the proposal to the CoE by Friday 8th November in order to secure funding for the summit For the platform to effectively input into the outcomes of the summit it should focus on the themes of the HoS summit "People, Peace and Prosperity". Other possible thematic areas include: education, vocational training, labour migration and mobility, peace and security Proper prior consultations are necessary for effective representation of the divergent perspectives of youth in the summit agenda The Africa Europe Business Forum will take place from March 31 to April 1, 2014 The platform gave the European Youth Forum the mandate to continue working to prepare the summit with the support of the Steering Committee composed of the 5 permanent members. Each permanent member will nominate a person, probably from the secretariat It was agreed that the summit be a Youth Leaders Summit of about 60-70 people equally drawn form Africa and Europe and all the partners; and as had been suggested by the CoE for logistical reasons
Format and Structure of the Summit • The summit would run through 2 working days and 3 evenings • Intergenerational dialogue between the participants of the Heads of State summit • Plenary sessions and working groups with declarations on various issues to be compiled • Pre-summit engagements with both commissions to create an opportunity for the development of aligned youth positions to influence the HoS summit for meaningful input into the sub themes identifying the challenges and solutions • Invite some HoS to the discussions of the youth summit and create an opportunity to have the outcomes presented and adopted at the HoS summit and commitment made on their implication of the outcomes in terms of action to be taken on them • EYF and PYU to play a key role in following up with their HoS on the outcomes of the summit • Participation will include young people within and outside the platform members, from both Africa and Europe including national youth councils and international youth organizations. Steering group to develop criteria for selection based on this general agreement • External relations will play a critical role in highlighting the summit and other related processes before, during and after • Opportunity for intercultural exchanges shall also be incorporated in the summit programme (in the evenings) to enhance learning and experience sharing. The 1st evening will be an internal cultural sharing moment, while the 2nd evening will involve visits and interactions with various local cultural groups and the 3rd evening will be a high level dinner with dignitaries to the HoS summit • Proposed activities and events include: multi dimensional intercultural experience, workshops on implementation of the declaration, exhibitions stands for partners to showcase their work and share best practices, thematic workshops by participants and partners, highlighting achievements of the platform, dialogue with Heads of States, assessment and reporting on the priorities as a background document for the forum Pre-Summit Consultations Process • Consultations will take a two-pronged approach: 1 among members of the platform and their connections and secondly among other people and organizations that are not members of the platform-with various types of questions for both groups • The consultations should be based on the underlying principles, the purpose and agenda of the summit, the expected results and anticipated actions that are probably linked with the position of the CSO Forum • Consultations to end in February to allow opportunity to formulate the position statement for discussion at the summit • Online consultations would be through AEYCO-the online resource centre • Main areas of consultations would be questions on the 7 priorities as contained in the
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JAES with 30 % of the questionnaire on information about the profile of respondents Seek assistance of poll agencies in formulating questions and analyzing the feedback 2 participants each from Africa and Europe to respond to questions on the cooperation Individual members would be mandated to organize face-to-face consultations with the members and other constituencies within their reach Language to be used will be a minimum of English and French
Expected Outcomes of the Summit • The summit has two purposes: Internally to strengthen the platform and further strengthen the cooperation and externally to project the voice of young people towards the HoS summit • The summit will engage youth leaders on an implementation plan on 3 levels, internally for the cooperation, politically to the HoS summit and to other stakeholders • Recognize and award initiatives coming out of the Africa-Europe cooperation by partners and other enablers that have had impact in promoting the cooperation • To further develop the strategic partnership • To develop new initiatives on the cooperation that build on the African potential through people-centred outcomes • Initiate a move From Aid to Trade-shifting from aid-based development to more business cooperation approach (Africa Needs Development Not Aid) • Have a clear recognition of the voice and importance of the contribution of the young people in shaping the processes of the cooperation CONCLUSION Activities Proposed by Partners for 2014 • 3rd November 2013: AE Youth Leaders Summit Steering Group meeting in November • 1st Dec 2013: IFLRY Conference in Egypt • January 2014: NSC Seed Funding of up to a maximum of 2000 Euros for projects to be implemented from 15 April to 15 October 2014 • March 2014: New mandate for the Advisory Council of the CoE begins • March 2014: WOSM Unguvu Project Training • March/April 2014: Africa-Europe Youth Leaders Summit • September 2014: University on Youth and Development (Training on Youth Diaspora) in Mollina • April 2014: European Youth Forum Congress • April 2014: FIMCAP Africa Conference • 9-11 May 2014: European Youth Event (EYF extended invitation to PYU and NIYOA as guest speakers) • August 2014: 40th World Scout Conference and 12th World Scout Youth Forum • Sept/October 2014: NIYOA Annual General Congress • 30 October 2014: International Day of African Diaspora by ADYNE • 1st November: Africa Youth Day • 31st October to 2nd November 2014: Africa University on Youth and Development and the Africa-Europe Youth Platform Meeting (National Youth Council of Namibia proposed to host) • December 2014: Pan-African Youth Union Congress • Mid December 2013: launch of the 1% Solidarity Fund by the European Youth Forum Possible Action Points for Follow Up Based on the outcomes of the meeting, NIYOA and its partner members may need to either reflect further or take action to follow up on the following: • Active involvement in the dissemination of the pre-summit consultation survey • Take advantage of the opportunity that will be provided at the summit to showcase its work and projects with the youth in Africa in partnership with member organizations • Through NIYOA as a member of the Steering Committee, assist in planning the AfricaEurope Youth Summit and plan to send representative(s) to participate fully in the summit • Clearly report on which activities and achievements are directly as a result of the cooperation
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Continue to explore further ways of strengthening cooperation with both European partners and other youth actors in Africa
Closing Remarks • The platform should consider institutionalizing the Steering Committee to take care of practical elements of the cooperation, aside from the facilitation role undertaken by the North-South Centre • Member organizations made suggestions on what they felt they were able to contribute towards making the summit a success • Representatives of the permanent members had an opportunity to share their closing reflections on the meeting and the cooperation in general • A vote of thanks was moved by Andreia Henriques of the North-South Centre thanking everyone for their active participation and contribution to the success of the meeting. She expressed optimism and hope in the continued strengthening of the cooperation and towards a successful summit.
Report Prepared By: Nelson Ochieng Opany WOSM Africa (NIYOA Secretary) Email: nopany@scout.org
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