Special Report on Messengers of Peace at the 8th Eastern Africa Zonal Scouts Youth Forum-Burundi 2013

The Youth Forum The 8th Eastern Africa Zonal Scout Youth Forum took place at

Mureke Seminary in Ngozi District of Burundi from Sunday 29th

December 2013 to Thursday 2nd December 2014 alongside the Eastern Africa Scout Competitions and the 17th Eastern Zonal Scout Conference. A total of thirty two participants aged between 18 and 26 years and drawn from five countries were in attendance.

The theme for the Forum was “Scouts Promoting Peace and Responsible Citizenship”. This was arrived at considering the situation in the member countries of the zone and the role Scouts can take in building peaceful communities and promoting responsible citizenship. The forum discussed the youth situation in the zone, outcomes of the 1st world scout education congress and opportunities for scouting and young people in the East Africa regional integration process. Messengers of Peace took centre stage as an opportunity to pursue community projects that address local challenges, build peace and develop youth as active citizens of their communities and countries. At the end of the forum, each country present was presented with some promotional material to help them in disseminating information and inspiring many more others to become Messengers

of Peace. Strengthening Messengers of Peace in Tanzania A team of five young people from Tanzania was also supported through the Messengers of Peace Project on “Developing leadership in young people in Africa” by the Africa Regional Office to participate in the forum. Anna Emmanuel, Murtadhwa Rashid, Rahma Issa, Malick Lungwa and Abdul Shabani are the ones who benefitted from this support.

Apart from the forum sessions, Nelson Opany, the Zonal Youth Chairperson and national Messengers of Peace Coordinator for Kenya also held private sessions to enlighten them further on the work of MoP in Tanzania and the role the had in championing peace among young people in their country. On their return home, they are expected to reenergize and strengthen the MoP network activities in Tanzania. To learn more about their work please visit their Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/100187086811799/ or like their page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Messengers-of-Peace-Tanzania-MOPTZ/1408726232704353. You can also read their blog http://moptz.blogspot.com/. For more information please contact them on the email address moptz@hotmail.com. Led by Murtadhwa Rashid, the team looks set to impact their communities thru peace building activities and thus playingbtheir part in achieving the vision of Scouting to create a better world. We invite you all to support them. Report by Nelson Ochieng Opany (Chairman, Eastern Africa Zonal Scouts Youth Forum & National Messengers of Peace Coordinator, Kenya)