Kigali, 8 November 2017: The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) of the African Union Commission (AUC) will convene the fourth Annual Election Management Bodies (EMBs) Forum on 9-10 November 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Enhanced Youth Participation in Electoral Processes in Africa”, in line with the 2017 theme of the African Union. The EMBs forum will be preceded by the General Assembly meeting of Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA) General Assembly Meeting will be held on 08 November 2017 in Kigali.

The African Union recognizes that investing in the youth, who are considered Africa’s greatest asset, will determine the development trajectory of the continent over the next 50 years and position it towards realizing the “Africa We Want”, a strong, united and influential global player as envisioned in Agenda 2063. In recognition of the potentially important roles that the youth could play in shaping political and socio-economic development of the continent, the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government declared 2017 as the year of “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”.

The theme of the 4th Annual EMBs Forum is based on the realization that the youth have a potentially prominent role to play in contributing positively to electoral and political processes on the continent of Africa through their demographic advantage. The EMBs Forum will therefore offer an opportunity for the EMBs and other electoral stakeholders on the continent to share experiences, harness lessons, and examine good practices on enhancing inclusive participation of the youth in electoral processes with a view to nurturing and deepening democratic and participatory governance on the continent.

The 4th Annual EMB Forum will gather around 150 delegates drawn from the AUC, Association of African Electoral Authorities, Regional Economic Communities fora for EMBs, national EMBs, youth organisations, and other key democracy and governance actors.