PRESS RELEASE

CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING ON YOUTH MAINSTREAMING

Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 24 June 2015: The Human Resource, Science and Technology Department (HRST) of the African Union Commission (AUC) conducted a capacity building training for staff on Youth Mainstreaming. The training, targets African Union Youth Volunteer Corps (AUYVCs) and youth focal persons in all departments within the commission.

The capacity building comes in light of the importance of Youth Mainstreaming as stipulated in the AUC policy frameworks. Mainstreaming Women and Youth in all AUC and continent wide activities is identified in the African Union Strategic Plan 2014 – 2017 as the fifth of the eight priority areas. Similarly, under aspiration six of agenda 2063, “all forms of systemic inequalities, exploitation, marginalization and discrimination of young people will be eliminated and youth issues mainstreamed in all development agenda.”

The training also forms part of the regular capacity building of the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps. Participants were taken through the available tools and resources that ensure youth are mainstreamed in a development agenda. From the training, it is hoped that participants, as youth focal persons, will ensure youth are reflected in policy and project stages in various sectors and also that there are specific projects addressing youth and that youth are involved at all stages.

In her opening statement HRST, Youth division acting Head, Dr Beatrice Njenga, mentioned that the mainstreaming is guided by the policy frameworks of the AUC. Furthermore she spoke of how the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps has been in existence for the past five years and the need to continuously improve the program with the help of the youth.

Commissioner of HRST, H.E Dr Martial De-Paul Ikounga, stressed the need to create enabling environments for the Africa Union Youth volunteers in the organisations where they are deployed which includes accepting ideas from them and helping them gain new skills. In addition, he announced that he commits to further engage with youth on this and related issues on his twitter handle @MDPIkounga under the hashtag #AskTheCommissioner