Youth speaker attends South Africa Training

Honourable Ousman Conteh, the Speaker for the Banjul Youth Parliament, who also doubles as the Programme Officer of the National Youth Parliament of The Gambia is in Johannesburg, South Africa attending the 7th Africa Europe Training Course for Youth Organisations, lasting from 23 to 30 May 2010, in South Africa.

The course is being organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe in the framework of the Youth Partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Union in co-operation with the Africa Institute of South Africa, the European Youth Forum and the Pan African Youth Union.

Perior to his departure, the renown youth activist said the training course aims to strengthen the role of young organisations as civil society actors and the youth ability to organise and take action, as well as strengthen its political participation. It also identifies educational principles to promote the global citizenship of young people in Europe and Africa.

According to Hon. Conteh, the course will help the participants acquire knowledge and tools to strengthen their political participation in the context of the EU-Africa Strategic, partnership with regards to poverty eradication and social cohesion on the Euro-African context, and also acquire skills to develop the capacity of their organisations as civil society actors in the development process. Furthermore, the course is a unique moment of practical and political follow-up and implementation of some of the outcomes of the Africa Europe Youth Summit, held in parallel to the 2nd EU-Africa Summit of Heads of State in December 2007, and for the preparations of the 2nd Africa Europe Youth Summit, to be held in November 2010.

During the training course, closed to 30 exceptional youth participants representing youth organisations, both from Europe and Africa will also provide an excellent space for strategic networking and finding partners to promote and encourage intercultural dialogue and intercultural learning.

It also aims to further strengthen individual and organisational capacities and skills for youth participation in development and youth leadership, and thus reinforce the possibilities for co-operation and dialogue between societies in Europe and Africa, Conteh concluded.

The Youth Speaker is expected to return to Banjul on Monday 31st May 2010.