Nairobi - Kenya- 13th September 2017: The Extraordinary Session of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Youth, Culture and Sport, (STC- YCS), kicked off Tuesday, 13th September 2017, at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, with the Meeting of Experts from Ministries responsible for youth, culture and Sport from all African Union (AU) Member States.

This Extraordinary Session is convened in implementation of the 2nd Session of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Youth, Culture and Sport (STC-YCS2) held in Addis Ababa, from 13 to 17 June 2016, which took key decisions for the establishment of the African Audio-Visual and Cinema Commission (AACC), as a Specialized Agency of the African Union, and the convening of an Extraordinary Session to consider the Draft Statute of the AACC, in order to ensure its finalization by 2017.

The establishment of the AACC will enhance the development of the cultural and creative industries sector of the continent, especially those related to audio visual and cinema, a means for entrepreneurial activities that will harness young people’s creativity toward more productive and decent work, so that they can provide a more meaningful contribution to the socio-economic development of the continent.

Highlighting the importance of the AACC for young people, Dr. Olawale Maiyegun, Director for Social Affairs of the African Union Commission, said in his opening address on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat that the establishment of the AACC comes in line with the intent of the AU Agenda 2063, to use young people’s talent and potential as lever for development.

“AACC is also well entrenched in the road map that was developed in response to the AU theme of the year 2017 “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”, which calls for more investment in the 4 key pillars namely: Employment and entrepreneurship, Education and skills development, Health and well-being, Rights, Governance and Youth Empowerment including migration peace and security” he added.

The representative of the Chairperson of the Bureau of the specialized Technical Committee on Youth, Culture and Sports Dr..Kiprop Lagat, Director of culture at the Ministry of sports , culture and the arts said the establishment of AACC will contribute towards the actualization of AU Agenda 2063 as it is the body mandated to facilitate the promotion of the rapid development of the African audio-visual and cinema industry while creating appropriate structures at the national, regional and continental level;.

He added that strengthen cooperation between AU member states in the area of audio-visual and cinema and promote the use of audiovisual and cinematic expressions as factors for accelerated development, job creation, integration , respect for the values and mutual understanding in order to foster peace and a positive image of Africa.

He further noted the AUC efforts regarding doping in the Sport, including the convening of the 1st Africa Anti-Doping Think Tank Forum, from 28- 31 August 2017 in the Republic of Seychelles, to provide a platform for African experts to discuss and to recommend future and implementable strategies to address doping in Sport in Africa, the Director urged the African Governments and the African Sports Movement to work together and take active steps in order to address matters of doping in Sport and ensure the implementation of sustainable and tangible Anti-doping programmes in pursuit of clean sport and compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

The Experts will also consider other issues including: review strategies in place to fight doping in sport, status of ratification and implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code, the AU assembly decision declared the period 2018 – 2027, as the African Decade for Technical, Professional and Entrepreneurial Training and Youth Employment.

Furthermore, the Session will consider a concept paper on the Centres of Excellence on Audio Visual and Cinema, and a project on the development of Cinematic Expressions for the AU Agenda 2063, to ensure its wider popularization, dissemination and understanding by the peoples of Africa.

The Meeting was attended by experts from Ministries responsible for youth, Culture and sports and culture in the AU Member States and other stockholders.

The Experts Session will conclude on Thursday 14th September, and it will present its conclusions and recommendations to the Ministerial Session which will open on Friday, 15th September 2017.

Media enquiry:
Ms, Afrah Thabit, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission- E-mail: Thabitma@africa-union.org

For further information:
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