3rd Pan African Youth Conference underway in Banjul, The Gambia

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The 3rd Pan African Youth Conference on African Unity and Development and the Annual General Assembly meeting of the African Youth Commission (AYC), scheduled for 23-26 March 2019 has today kicked off in Banjul, The Gambia under the theme: ‘The Future Is Now; Youth are Not Too Young to Lead’.

The Conference is co-organised by The Gambia National Youth Council and the AYC in partnership with Government of The Gambia; UN System in The Gambia; Kanifing Municipal Council; The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as ChildFund International, The Gambia.

Now in its third year, the Pan African Youth Conference on African Unity and Development is a multi-stakeholder youth-led and driven platform aimed at building capacities and strengthening engagement of children and youth in the current policy and decision making processes at national, sub regional and continental levels.

Discussions at the Conference which is being attended by over 300 youth delegates from across Africa is centred on six thematic areas including Pan Africanism and African integration; governance and empowerment; irregular migration and silencing the guns. Others are health and wellbeing; as well as climate change. The conference features expert presentations, parallel side-event workshops and interactive plenaries as well as roundtable discussions.

Inaugurated on January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the AYC is an independent Pan-African youth network founded by African youth leaders to foster synergy amongst youth and youth organisations on the African continent and Diaspora.  The network is determined and committed to providing a space and voice for youth and youth organisations to set and drive their own agenda, promote the involvement of young people as key partners in the implementation of the AU’s Agenda  2063 as well the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.