Yaoundé, 14th May 2018: The African Union Commission commenced the training of young researchers to deliver the 2018 Status of African Youth Report, under the African Union Volunteer Corps in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The training, which started on the 14th of May, will run to the 17th of the same month.

The training is attended by Ms. Prudence Ngwenya, Head of the Youth Division, Department of Human Resource, Science and Technology, African Union Commission, Professor Ebode Ntuda, the Director of the Pan-African University School of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences (PAUGHSS), AUC staff, trainers from partner research organizations and AU Member States National Statistics Offices, as well as 15 young researchers from across the continent.

The main objective for training the young researchers is to standardize the data collection processes towards the report, create a collective understanding of youth development indicators and research trends in Africa, and capacitate the researchers with the necessary information and tools to produce the desired results.

The training also provides the opportunity to introduce the researchers to the African Union, the AUC and the values of leadership, youth empowerment, spirit of service and pan-Africanism encapsulated by the African Union Volunteer Corps.

In his keynote seminar during the opening of the training, Prof. Ebode Ntuda, the Director of PAUGHSS, stressed the importance of evidence generation in developing effective policies for youth development. Highlighting Africa’s youth bulge as the potential for developing the continent, Prof. Ntuda asserted that evidence is key to enable Africa focus its resources on strategic areas for development to successfully harness its youth towards driving growth and economic development.

Ms. Prudence Ngwenya, the Head of the Youth Division at the African Union Commission, in her opening remarks, urged the researchers to fully engage in the training sessions in the next few days. Citing Article 26 of the African Youth Charter which calls upon young people to be the custodians of their own development, she called upon the young researchers to take ownership of the project and wholly contribute their abilities and versatility towards delivering the report.