On 13 November 2018, the Paris Peace Forum selected the AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub for an award, among nine other winning projects, out of a total of 121 projects initially screened. This award will enable the Hub to benefit from expertise and visibility from the Paris Peace Forum Follow-Up Committee for the coming year.

The AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub is one of the concrete achievements of the AU-EU partnership. It was established as a follow-up of the AU-EU Youth Plug-In initiative, set up ahead of the 5th AU-EU Summit, held in Abidjan in November 2017, where 36 young people from Africa, Europe and the diaspora were competitively selected and invited to propose fresh approaches to Head of States and Governments who participated in the Abidjan Summit. The 42 young people forming the Hub, of 29 African and European nationalities, are assigned an oversight role for an initial €10 million used for implementation of pilot projects in six areas: education, business and job creation, environment and climate change, peace and security, governance, culture, sports and arts. In this context, the young people monitor implementation of those projects, with support from the African Union and the European Union. The projects will be implemented by civil society organisations.

The Hub presents an opportunity to harness new dynamic approaches by youth to solving developmental challenges both in Africa and in Europe. By working directly with youth and together with different stakeholders, it enables an innovative governance mechanism to deal with common challenges for Europe and Africa and it will bring tangible results in each of the six areas.

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat remarks: "This recognition is yet another example of the clear leadership demonstrated by young people across the two continents as innovative agents of change to promote our shared development priorities," said Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. "The AUC is committed to creating the necessary space that allows initiatives spearheaded by African youth to thrive, and are guaranteed of our unrelenting support in this regard," Chairperson Faki added. 

EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said: “One year after the 5th African Union-European Union Summit in Abidjan, which was dedicated to youth, I am proud that the Paris Peace Forum recognises and rewards the valuable work of the Youth Cooperation Hub – an initiative that was kick-started and driven by young staff from the European Union and the African Union. Giving such prominent recognition to a project that has youth at its heart reflects our profound conviction that young people are the backbone of sustainable development. It is also a clear signal that the partnership between Europe and Africa is being recognised as a very important building block of the multilateral order and rules-based world that the Paris Peace Forum aims to promote."

Further media inquiries should be directed to:
Mrs Esther Tankou Azaa | Head of Information Division | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: YambouE@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia