CONVENE • ENGAGE • INFLUENCE - African youth commemorate the 2021 International Youth Day
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In celebration of International Youth Day, UN Women jointly with African Union Commission- Women, Gender and Youth Directorate (AUC-WGYD), UN Peacekeeping Operations Department (DPO) and the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) network rolled out a month-long social media campaign that culminated in a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on August 12 2021. The campaign aimed to document the work and efforts of youth, in particular young women in creating a lasting peace in Africa.
The policy dialogue, organized under the theme “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of young women and girls for peace and security’’ brought together 70 participants including young women in peace and security, members of civil society organizations, African Union Member States and policy makers. The dialogue was organized to highlight the efforts made by young women and youth-led organizations to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda, to take stock of the role of young African women in the UN and AU-led peacekeeping missions and their contributions to peace processes and to bring to the limelight specific challenges faced by them. The Dialogue created an opportunity to discuss key priority actions and identify strategies for partnerships and collaboration among policy makers and young women working on peace and security at all levels in Africa.
The event was opened by Ms. Prudence Ngwenya, Head of African Union Commission (AUC) Youth Division and was followed by opening remarks and inspirational statement from different actors.
“It is exciting to see intergenerational dialogue where women peace builders are connected to discuss and chart a way on how more young women can be involved in peace processes including, in planning, programme design, policy development, and decision-making processes,” stated Karen Ondwasi, Chairperson of GIMAC Youth Network in her opening remarks.
“As a young feminist, I feel excited to have such beautiful goals over the following five years,” shared Ms. Liz Lum, Girl Advisor at Global Fund for Women USA and Generation Equality Champion. Ms. Lum further stated the GE Paris Forum's goals should be “carried through a bold feminist agenda and the work of a series of Action Coalitions” and called for commitments to realize the goals of the Forums.
Dr Edward Addai, Representative of UNICEF to the AU and UNECA highlighted that the road to peace in Africa requires mutual respect and social justice and called on young people emphasizing on their capacities as change makers to bring about lasting peace in Africa.
From the perspective of a Member State and as a seasoned leader, H.E Dr. Veronique Tognifode, Minister of Social Affairs and Microfinance of Benin, current Chairperson of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment who noted that “despite being criticized as overly sensitive, women can play a very courageous role in conflict prevention and management.” She encouraged the young women present as well as young girls to ensure that they continue to empower themselves through education and further underlined the importance investing in girls' schooling, their retention in school and fighting against school dropout through the fight against abuses and violence to ensure equal participation of both women and girls in peace processes.
The event culminated with very rich inter-generational dialogue including the statement from Ms. Bineta Diop, Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security for AUCS who noted that “various crises situations have shown that young women and girls are central to peace and reconstruction efforts and are resilient in the face of all the diversity.” In her conclusion, Ms. Diop emphasized on the need to strengthen co-leadership with the youth and highlighted the need for programs and initiatives that ensure and support young women initiatives.
In closing, Ms. Marie Goretti Nduwayo, UN Women Liaison Advisor to the AU and ECA stated “as Africa, we need to rally around the commitments of the Generation Equality Forum’s Compact on WPS-HA to ensure that they are implemented, and women and girls are systematically and meaningfully engaged.” She called for multisectoral partnerships to accelerate the realization of the women, youth, peace and security interventions.