The Peace and Security Department (PSD) of the African Union Commission (AUC) organised a two- day Workshop on harnessing the contributions of the African Youth to Peace and Security in Africa, in commemoration of the African Union Youth Day, which is held annually on the 1st of November. The workshop took place on the 7th to 8th of November 2018, at the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Workshop was a follow up to a consultative process with youth organisations working on peace and security. The consultative process was complemented with the launch of the Youth for Peace Africa (Y4PAfrica) Programme which was held in September 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria and was supported by ACCORD and the Training for Peace Programme (TfP). The consultation underscored that there is a limit record of youth’s contribution in the peace and security discourse. It is in this regard that the PSD organised the Workshop with the specific aim of providing a platform to interrogate, document and project the contributions of the African youth to peace and security; as well as build and enhance their capacities for documentation, monitoring and evaluation of their project interventions. It is hoped that the conclusion of the Workshop will inform an elaborate study by the African Union (AU) on the contribution of African youths to the promotion of peace and security.
The Workshop was held on the margins of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC)’s maiden open session on Youth, Peace and Security. The open session provided the opportunity for youth representatives to present a consolidated contribution of youth to peace and security for Member States, Regional Economic Communities, AUC and other development partners’ appreciation. The open session advocated for a PSC decision to ensure for the active participation and inclusion of youth on all issues of peace and security on the continent with the objective of complementing Article 17 of the AU Youth Charter, 666th Communique of the PSC, the UNSCR 2250, 2419 and the 5th priority of the UN Youth Strategy respectively.
The Workshop bought together participants drawn from youth-led and youth oriented organizations focusing on various specialised thematic areas that are promoting the peace and security youth agenda on the African continent, the AUC PSD as well as relevant AUC Departments.
ACCORD’s involvement in this initiative is in line with its strategic goal of supporting efforts at strengthening the AUC and Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) capacity and capability to plan, manage and implement PSOs on the continent through the enhancement of the capacities of the ASF.
The Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ACCORD was represented by Miss Sibusisiwe Nkosi: Programme Officer Peacekeeping Unit.
