MEDIA ADVISORY

INVITATION TO MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES

WHAT: West Africa Youth Consultation on Project 2016 - African Year of Human Rights with a particular focus on the rights of women, under the theme Promoting Young People's Rights towards the attainment of Agenda 2063

WHEN: 23rd – 24th August, 2016

WHERE: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center - Accra, Ghana

WHO: The AU African Governance Architecture (AGA) in collaboration with National Democratic Institute (NDI)

WHY: The West African Youth Consultation is the first of four regional youth consultations that will take place across the continent over the next two months. The consultations will bring together over 200 youth from across the continent. The consultations will provide a platform for aggregating youth concerns, insights and perspectives, building capacity as well as showcasing youth initiatives that advance human rights on the continent. The consultations will also be an opportunity for youth to provide input to the African Union 10 Year Human Rights Strategy. The Strategy will be a guiding framework for collective action by the AU, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and member states aimed at strengthening the African human rights system and seeking to address the current challenges of the African human rights system.

Objectives

The objectives of the consultations are to:

· Assess the state of play in the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural as well as political and civil rights that accrue to young people;

· Provide a platform for sharing of experiences and insights towards advancing the enjoyment, respect and protection of young people’s rights;

· Strengthen the capacity of youth-led and -oriented organisations on the African human rights system;

· Aggregate youth inputs into the proposed 10 Year Human Rights Strategy for Africa as well as other mechanisms such as the AGA Human Rights and Transitional Justice Cluster programmes; and

· Establish regional learning platforms and networks as an ongoing knowledge sharing and peer mentoring platform for promoting human rights in Africa.

Expected Outcomes

· Young people’s knowledge, awareness and appreciation of the African Union human rights system enhanced;

· Youth’s contributions to the strategic components of the AU’s 10 Year Human Rights Strategy generated and incorporated through action plans from the regional youth consultations; and

· Regional youth knowledge sharing and exchange networks created for ongoing strengthening of youth-led and oriented human rights organisations.

Background:

The African Union’s African Governance Architecture (AGA) - Youth Engagement Strategy focused on elevating African youth voices on issues that highly affect their present as well as their future. As this year commemorates the “African Year of Human Rights with particular focus on the Rights of Women” it is important to give these issues high ground as they are the centre piece for the respect and protection of fundamental human rights in the continent.

Journalists are invited to cover the Event.

Note to Editor

The African Governance Architecture (AGA) is a mechanism for dialogue between stakeholders that are mandated to promote and strengthen democratic governance in Africa as a way to deepen coherence, synergy and coordination. The AGA is the overall political and institutional framework for the promotion, protection and sustenance of democracy, governance, human rights and humanitarian assistance on the continent. The principle objective of AGA is implementation of AU Shared Values and in particular the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG). Established in 2011 AGA is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the AU Headquarters with the AGA Platform Members based Africa wide.

For media inquiries contact:

Ms. Nebila Abdulmelik

Knowledge Management Expert, AGA

Department of Political Affairs | African Union Commission

nebila.abdulmelik@gmail.com

For further information:

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Directorate of Information and Communication
Directorate of Information and Communication | Information and Communication | African Union Commission

Tel: +251-11-5517700 | Fax: | E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org | Web:www.au.int

Addis Ababa | Ethiopia