European Union External Action - European External …€¦ · Web viewWe are pleased to announce...
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5 September 2017 PRESS RELEASE: CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH IN NAMIBIA ON 7 SEPTEMBER 2017 We are pleased to announce that the European Union in partnership with the National Youth Council, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, AIESEC, German Cooperation and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre will host a conference on Sustainable Economic Development Opportunities for Youth in Namibia. The conference will take place on the 7 th of September 2017 in Windhoek at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre. The aim of the conference is to bring together youth groups from different walks of life to discuss their aspirations, challenges and recommendations on topics such as youth entrepreneurship, job creation and education among others. This conference will build on among others - the National Youth Development Seminar, held in September 2016 under the theme "Putting Youth at the Heart of Development". Furthermore the purpose is to ensure that the ‘Voice of the Namibian Youth’ feeds into the 5th AU-EU Summit, slated for 29-30 November in Abidjan. The EU-Africa Summit brings together key decision-makers from the EU and Africa to discuss future relation. The keynote address will be delivered by Hon Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. Opening statements will be made by the EU and German Ambassadors and the Executive Chairperson of the National Youth Council. This will be followed by a Panel discussion consisting of speakers from government and the private sector, who will be sharing their expertise and experience with the audience and 'set the scene'. The afternoon session will involve break-away sessions on the following themes: (i) Financing for youth entrepreneurship, (ii) Essential skills and competencies required for Namibian youth entrepreneurs, (iii) Improving the regulatory and legal climate, including market access in support of entrepreneurs and lastly (iv) Innovative business ideas. The outcome and recommendations from these discussions will be presented to the plenary and form the basis of a report that will be compiled and submitted to the Youth Summit in October and then the AU-EU Summit in November. As the 5 th AU-EU Summit is being prepared with "Investing in Youth" as the overarching theme and 2017 is the AU year for "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend by investing in youth", the EU and AU aspires to ensure a more meaningful and comprehensive inclusion of Youth in the run up to and at the Summit. By bringing together African and European Youth organizations and motivated young people, the 4 th Africa-Europe Youth Summit and the EU-AU ‘Youth Plug-In Initiative’ will strengthen direct participation of the youth in the political process affecting their future prospects. The 4 th Africa-Europe Youth Summit is expected to gather 115 youth leaders from both continents, on 9-11 October in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to agree on a declaration with recommendations and messages on six themes including education, peace and security, climate and environment, business and job creation, political inclusion and culture. The work of the Youth Summit will be presented to the Heads of State at the 5 th AU-EU Summit. "Youth in both Europe and Africa represents one of the world's greatest untapped resources, hence the need for us as policy and decision-makers to assist and provide a conducive environment for the youth that will enable them to be drivers for constructive economic, democratic and societal change and development", said Jana Hybaskova, EU Ambassador to Namibia.
Transcript of European Union External Action - European External …€¦ · Web viewWe are pleased to announce...
5 September 2017
PRESS RELEASE: CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH IN NAMIBIA ON 7 SEPTEMBER 2017
We are pleased to announce that the European Union in partnership with the National Youth Council, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, AIESEC, German Cooperation and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre will host a conference on Sustainable Economic Development Opportunities for Youth in Namibia. The conference will take place on the 7 th of September 2017 in Windhoek at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre. The aim of the conference is to bring together youth groups from different walks of life to discuss their aspirations, challenges and recommendations on topics such as youth entrepreneurship, job creation and education among others. This conference will build on among others - the National Youth Development Seminar, held in September 2016 under the theme "Putting Youth at the Heart of Development". Furthermore the purpose is to ensure that the ‘Voice of the Namibian Youth’ feeds into the 5th AU-EU Summit, slated for 29-30 November in Abidjan. The EU-Africa Summit brings together key decision-makers from the EU and Africa to discuss future relation.
The keynote address will be delivered by Hon Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. Opening statements will be made by the EU and German Ambassadors and the Executive Chairperson of the National Youth Council. This will be followed by a Panel discussion consisting of speakers from government and the private sector, who will be sharing their expertise and experience with the audience and 'set the scene'. The afternoon session will involve break-away sessions on the following themes: (i) Financing for youth entrepreneurship, (ii) Essential skills and competencies required for Namibian youth entrepreneurs, (iii) Improving the regulatory and legal climate, including market access in support of entrepreneurs and lastly (iv) Innovative business ideas. The outcome and recommendations from these discussions will be presented to the plenary and form the basis of a report that will be compiled and submitted to the Youth Summit in October and then the AU-EU Summit in November.
As the 5th AU-EU Summit is being prepared with "Investing in Youth" as the overarching theme and 2017 is the AU year for "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend by investing in youth", the EU and AU aspires to ensure a more meaningful and comprehensive inclusion of Youth in the run up to and at the Summit. By bringing together African and European Youth organizations and motivated young people, the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit and the EU-AU ‘Youth Plug-In Initiative’ will strengthen direct participation of the youth in the political process affecting their future prospects. The 4 th
Africa-Europe Youth Summit is expected to gather 115 youth leaders from both continents, on 9-11 October in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to agree on a declaration with recommendations and messages on six themes including education, peace and security, climate and environment, business and job creation, political inclusion and culture. The work of the Youth Summit will be presented to the Heads of State at the 5th AU-EU Summit. "Youth in both Europe and Africa represents one of the world's greatest untapped resources, hence the need for us as policy and decision-makers to assist and provide a conducive environment for the youth that will enable them to be drivers for constructive economic, democratic and societal change and development", said Jana Hybaskova, EU Ambassador to Namibia.
We believe the Conference on Sustainable Economic Development Opportunities for Youth in Namibia provides an excellent occasion and platform to solicit the views, aspirations and proposals of Namibia's youth and provides opportunities for networking and learning about various youth initiatives and programmes. Similarly, it is our hope that the outcome of this conference will be used by national leaders, organizations and the youth for their further development and support.
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CONTACT: Susan-Marie Lewis, Press OfficerDelegation of the European Union to Namibia Tel: 0813631675
