Addis Ababa-19th November 2018: Following the month-long celebrations of the annual Africa Youth Day event and the announcement of the AU Youth Envoy, the African Union Commission (AUC) is ready to commence the training of the next batch of youth volunteers under the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps (AU-YVC) in Congo Brazzaville.

The training which is set to start on the 19th November will run until the 30th of November. Organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Civic Education, the training will be officially launched by the H.E Prime Minister Clement Mouamba of Republic of Congo and Ms Prudence Ngwenya, Head of Youth Division at African Union Commission.

The AU-YVC is a flagship Youth Leadership and Empowerment program of the African Union that has recruited and worked with young professionals from all 55 AU Member States as professional volunteers. It promotes volunteering to deepen the status of young people in Africa as key participants in the delivery of Africa's human development targets and goals and achieving Africa’s shared development Agenda.

The coming training follows the recent 9th Batch AU-YVC volunteer pre-deployment orientation training which took place from the 25th September – 10 October 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda where a total of 90 Youth Volunteers from 44 AU Member States participated in the training.

The upcoming training will be a knowledge sharing and intercultural exposure process for youth across the continent who are driven and passionate for the development of the continent.

H.E. Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology asserts “with the successes that have come with the deployment of volunteers across tactical categories such as gender, age, skills sets and regional representation to mention a few, there is still an opportunity for young people to recognise the value volunteering their professional skills has for the continent”. She adds that “we are, under the Africa Youth Day theme of 2018, raising youth voices in the fight against corruption and the AU-YVC programme is one of the many youth division programmes that enhances this position of the commission”.

The training will see more youth being enrolled in the programme and enrolled in intense module and course work developed specifically for their volunteerism in the continent which is to be presented by academics, experts and the like across various topics such as Pan Africanism and the role youth have to play as part of continental development.

The fundamentals of the content covered in the training and pre-deployment sessions are broken down into modules that will focus on Pan Africanism, Spirit of Service and Youth empowerment. Additionally the role of youth as implementers of actions driving Agenda 2063.

Besides course dense content, the volunteers will be exposed prior to their final day of graduation, to various activities that will build other core competencies enriching their skills which Adugna, the AU-YVC Program Officer, says is a key component in achieving the vision of the African Union of “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena” through volunteerism and free movement of African youth. Part of this will also involve excursions and visits to cultural and heritage sites where the volunteers will get an exposure to the rich and diverse history of Africa and integrate it in their learning process.

The status of volunteerism is a strategic development need in the continent and positions that the AU-YVC has strengthened its role in the continent and forms part of the broader narrative of the AU in harnessing youth as partners, resources and a prerequisite for the sustainable development of the continent.

The training will conclude with a graduation ceremony of all elected volunteers attended by government officials, youth organisations, partners and some community members. Youth across the continent are urged to share their different International Volunteer Day activities with the AUC Youth Division on social media using the hashtag #BetheFutureToday

For any media inquiry, please contact:
Mr Kholekile Mnisi| Communications Officer: AUC Youth Division| African Union Commission| E-mail: mnisik@africa-union.org