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What: Transitional Justice training for African Youth

When: Application is open from 15 January to 28 February 2021

Where: Online application via email:

Who: Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (DPA-AUC)

Background: The African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) was officially adopted by the African Union Assembly in February 2019. Following this development, the African Union Commission (AUC) has prioritized the realization of the objectives of the Policy through promotion of its Implementation in Africa. Currently, few numbers of the AU Member States are implementing different types of Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms, some have taken additional step, utilizing the AUTJP to develop their country specific TJ Policy and programmes. Specific Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) are also making significant progress in this regard.

The African Union Commission has developed a comprehensive Roadmap of implementation for the Policy. Training of TJ stakeholders is one of the action plans in the Roadmap. In December 2020, together with other partners, the DPA commenced the training of the AUTJP stakeholders, starting with the staff of the AU organs and offices.

This second phase of the training tagged the African Youth for Transitional Justice Project (AYFTJ) will focus on African youth through training and capacity building on the AUTJP and this will be followed by other stakeholders’ trainings. Africa is today dominated by a youthful population and for any programme to be legitimate and trans-generationally useful and successful in Africa, the youth must be at the center stage of such initiatives. This, amongst others, explain why the AYFTJP.

Goal and Objectives: The overall goal of the AYFTJP is to promote youth effective and popular participation in the conceptualization and implementation of TJ mechanisms as against their token(ism) involvement in transitional justice processes in Africa. Other specific objectives include:

• Training and capacity building for African youth on AUTJP
• Promotion of youth committee in Member States implementing TJ mechanisms in Africa
• Establishment of a continental youth platform for experience sharing and capacity building on youth in TJ
• AU technical support to Member States on youth and transitional justice processes
About the AUTJP: The African Union Transitional justice Policy is a continental framework aimed at providing guidance to the African Union (AU) Member States emerging from violent conflict, war and repressive governance. Furthermore, the Policy is an African model and a mechanism for dealing with not only the legacies of conflict and human rights violations, but also governance deficits and developmental challenges with a view to advancing the noble goals of the Agenda 2063, the Africa We Want.
Africa is the youngest continent as youths constitute 70% of Africa’s population. It is therefore imperative that they should be part of the African transitional justice processes. In this context, the African Union Commission is commencing a programme “the African Youth for Transitional Justice.
Eligibility Criteria:
1. Citizens of an AU Member State living on the continent or the Diaspora;
2. Aged between 18-35 years;
3. Have a post-secondary certified qualification(s) such as Bachelor or Master’s Degree etc;
4. Proficient in any of these AU official languages, English, French, Arabic and Portuguese
5. Has at least one year verifiable professional work experience on Justice systems and Transitional Justice Mechanisms in AU Member States
Application Process:
1. Fill out the application form

2. Attach the following documents:

• Your updated professional Curriculum Vitae (CV), not longer than 3 pages
• Information page of your passport or national ID
• Copies of your highest completed qualifications

3. Prepare and attach your cover latter. In your cover latter please respond to the following questions:
• Why do you want to take this Transitional Justice Training?
• What will you contribute to the establishment of a continental Platform- African Youth for Transitional Justice (AYTJ)?
• What makes you the best candidate for this training?
• How will you contribute to transitional justice Programme back home in your country?

Training Dates and Venue:

The training will be held face to face in Nairobi, Kenya from March 16-18 March 2021. (Tentative)
Entitlement:
For successful applicants, the African Union Commission will cover the full costs of participation in the training. Upon completion of the training, trainees will receive a certificate of participation.
More information:
For more information please contact Mrs. Tsion Hailemariam, (Human Rights Project Officer) at Tsionh@africa-union.org.

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