On June 8, 2022 Fondazione Aurora was delighted to participate in the first Global African Youth Dialogue, through the presence of our CEO Marta Sachy. The Global Africa Youth Dialogue, is an intergenerational dialogue that was initiated to advocate for diaspora African youth engagement in the continent’s development agendas, policy and decision making process.
Global Africa Youth Dialogue was founded by Humuza Gisa Roick, a Pan Africanist, Youth Activist and a Rwandan pursuing his education in Global Governance at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Aligned with the African Youth Charter adopted on July 02.2006 and AU agenda 2063 “we are highly convinced that Africa’s greatest resource is its youthful population and that through its active and full participation, Africans can surmount the difficulties that lie ahead” He said.
This remarkable Dialogue took place for the first time at the Centro Studi Americano in Rome/Italy on 08 June 2022 and was held as an open moderated panel discussion composed of Embassies of African countries in Italy, CEOs, Professors, Researchers, African diaspora and friends of Africa, Focusing on the role of African youth in transforming Africa into a global powerhouse with the moderation of Ada Ugo Abara, CEO of D-Tech 4Good.
During his opening remark, H.Gisa Roick the Founder of Global Africa Youth Dialogue spotlighted that
“Actions counts now, African youth in diaspora can play a central role in development and growth, they need to be invested in, given opportunities to be engaged and fully active in development plans across the continent. Our Generation is curious and passionate to learn, explore knowledge and navigate possible solutions that can benefit our continent and the world amicably. Here is Why we are here now, the Africa we want is where we value the core concerns of it’s Youth ”.
The first Guest speaker, His excellency ambassador Salah S. Hammad, touched upon the continental framework AU agenda 2063 and the strategies that are being implemented to achieve it. Specifically, Ambassador Salah highlighted the steps being taken by the African Union to establish youth facilitation mechanisms including AU Youth Engagement Strategy (YES), the African passport in order to ease the youth mobility across the continent. As in regards to the engagement, the ambassador concluded his speech by inspiring the youth to actively participate in the AU agenda implementation and not stay in the corner for they have a role in building Africa.
Mrs Gwendy Omijeh, Minister of Political and Economic Affairs, Embassy of the federal republic of Nigeria mentioned how the strength of the youth in Africa is not only in numbers but also in the motivation they get wherever they are. She used Nigeria as an example to explain the importance of creating an environment for young people to thrive. In her conclusion, Mrs Gwendy also mentioned the importance of youth engagement in building Africa and the tremendous progress African countries have made in increasing youth participation. In a few decades African youth will count as 42% of the world youth population; policies are now critical in ensuring that we are creating the enabling environment to unlock their full potentials. Policy makers and the society as a whole should be allowing the youth to demonstrate their skills and learn from their mistakes. If policies creates room for them now, together we will make Africa a global powerhouse.
H.E ambassador Kombo of the United Republic of Tanzania to Italy, first addressed the challenges in the African education system. His main emphasis was on the extreme importance given to a pass mark in academic exams, for African students, rather than in acquiring knowledge in their specific fields. The possible solution for this, as Mr Kombo said, would be about rethinking our education system and shaping it in a proper way. He also communicated the need of having the appropriate practical approach and closing the entrepreneurship gap for Africa to thrive and evolve.
In addition, the ambassador challenged the youth to plan actions needed to achieve the 2006 Africa Youth charter at the end of the dialogue as a step to come forward. Ambassador Kombo believes that the youth should hold their leaders accountable, they should « dare to go back and ask for what they need ». According to his vision, not only the youth should be involved in the decision making process of youth oriented policies, they should supervise it.
The CEO of Fondazione Aurora, Marta Sachy, reminded the African diaspora of their responsibility in developing their continent by using competent skills and exposure they acquired in the international environment. Adopting use of technology and available opportunities to transform Africa into a global powerhouse. Fondazione Aurora is committed to supporting young african scholars and entrepreneurs than are thriving to have a positive impact on their local communities. Fondazione Aurora a non-profit organisation committed to scaling up of African social impact enterprises with innovative capabilities and territorial relationships. It works through applied research in order to improve products and services, provide technical assistance and operational funds for capital endowment.
The dialogue was very interactive with insightful questions from different Rome based university students and other participants. The overall closure recapped the role of African youth to make Africa a global powerhouse through acknowledging our privileges, claiming what we want and being brave enough to reach out to our elders for insights.
This first edition of the Global African Youth Dialogue has attracted the attention of the international press, such as IGIHE, in Rwanda: https://en.igihe.com/spip.php?page=mv2_article&id_article=45977#.YqM-3pEmCjE.whatsapp
To discover more about the initiative: www.globalafricayouth.it