African Youth Conference 2012

The Youth Parliament of Mozambique, in partnership with regional youth platforms, will hold from 10th –14th December 2012, in the city of Maputo, the African Youth Conference on Democracy and Good Governance, event which is a purely African youth initiative.

The general aim of this African Youth Conference is to create a spirit of unity, common agenda and commitment between young African leaders, in order to transform the youth into a meaningful majority that constitutes a vibrant power in Africa.

This Conference will be an opportunity (i) to discuss the successes and nuances of African governance, as well as (ii) to analyze the impact of the 10 years of the African Union and the 20 years of peace in Mozambique. One of the core objectives of the Conference is to reflect on best practices of governance and to harvest lessons from different scenarios discussed with AFRICAN FORMER STATESMEN and EXAMPLES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE.

This conference further intends to shift the mindset of young people from challenges to solutions, and reflect on the challenges of dissemination and implementation of the proposals by the AFRICAN YOUTH CHARTER and the AFRICAN CHARTER ON DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE, particularly on the sphere of young women political participation aimed at furthering the democratization of Africa. Mozambique – Maputo, Av. Emília Daússe, no 1747; (+258) 21 304945/ 82 2628280/ 84 7174826; [email protected]

This event, which has the partnership of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Swedish Embassy, Action Aid, Civil Society Support Mechanism, IBIS (Denmark), Diakonia, Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany), Águas da Namaacha (Mozambique), Bricon Lda. (Mozambique) and US Government, as well as the technical support of the Africa Forum of the Former Statesmen example of Good Governance, will join 200 young African powerful leaders from the different regions of Africa.

The delegate's profiles and the Conference program will be available for request on 1st December.

Overall, the Program will focus on the following themes:

• African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: What lessons and outputs to subvert the return of democracy in Africa?

• African Youth Charter: What challenges prevent its effective implementation?

• Transparency and Accountability: the pillars of youth participation in governance;

• Strategies for democratic mobilization of youth: how to reverse the anemic political participation?

• The issue of equal rights in access to resources and opportunities towards economic independence: What challenges to implementing the recommendations / statements on gender equality?

• 10 years of the African Union (AU) and the new challenges of peace and unity in Africa;

• The untapped natural/mineral resources and agricultural potential of Africa: What recommendations for investment in industrialization and domestic trade?

• Education and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies);

• Citizenship, advocacy and a transformational education in Africa towards pacific revolutions;

• HIV/AIDS in Africa: Why not customize approaches?

• Employment versus Entrepreneurship Development in Africa: Quid juris? (Housing, Sexual and Reproductive Health).

Mozambique – Maputo, Av. Emília Daússe, no 1747; (+258) 21 304945/ 82 2628280/ 84 7174826; [email protected]

Young African leaders representing countries with critical scenarios of governance and countries considered examples of sustainable governance will make presentations, where they will share experiences, good practices and challenges in plenary and in groups of work.

Further, we expect as results:
• Adoption of a Declaration of Commitment of the African Youth on Democracy and Good Governance;

• Establishment and encouragement of permanent/continuous forums of dialogue between the African youth leaders beyond the formal structures;

• Creation of an accessible database including relevant information and contacts of youth networks working in Africa, in order to improve interaction and synergy action between networks on national, regional and continental level.

• Facilitate resources sharing between networks who are not working on the same field – to allow easier extension of networks who wish to be widely represented on the continent in order to yield better impact keeping the organizations autonomy and protection their own goals and statutes;

• Approval of strategic lines of action for the dissemination and advocacy for the implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the African Youth Charter;

• Young African leaders cooperating actively, consulting each other permanently and issuing common, inclusive and integrated positions regarding youth and democracy challenges in each country;

Foreign reporters interested in covering the Conference should write to the address [email protected].