African Youth Leaders Introduce the youth Charter at a Social Media Forum

African Youth Leaders Introduce the youth Charter at a Social Media Forum

Friday 19^th March 2010

Venue: University of Nairobi Sports Ground Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya— At least 100 youth leaders from 24 African countries will introduce the African Youth Charter to the public today, 19^th March 2010, at a social media forum at 3.00pm at the University of Nairobi Sports Ground. Maina Kiai, the immediate former Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), will officiate at the forum.

The youth have been attending a Pan African Youth Meeting at Lukenya Gateway since 15^th -19^th March 2010 to discuss new tools and effective strategies of youth participation in democracy and governance in Africa. The weeklong event culminates in a public social media forum today.

Dubbed the Youth AfriCamp 2010, the theme of the forum is: Youth, Media, and Governance. An initiative of Open Society Institute Youth Program, the Youth AfriCamp is the first of its kind in the region.

The Pan African Forum seeks to provide a platform for positive transformation of African youth by encouraging them to harness new strategies and tools to get their message heard. At the forum, the youth will showcase their work, share their experiences, discuss the African Youth Charter and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; and learn how they can apply these important instruments in their work. Hon Cecily Mbarire, Kenya’s Assistant Minister for Tourism and Wildlife and Member of Parliament for Runyenjes addressed the youth on Wednesday 17^th March 2010, at Lukenya Gateway.

The Open Society Institute (OSI) is a New York-based organization with a presence in over sixty countries around the world. OSI is a non-profit operating and grantmaking foundation that aims to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to support the rule of law, education, public health, and independent media. Since 2005, OSI has been represented in East Africa through its Nairobi office, the Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA).

For more information on the Youth AfriCamp 2010 contact: www.idebate.org/africamp

In East Africa: Linda Ochiel, Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA), at Lochiel@osiea.org or + 254 727-642-193 or Ronald Rwankangi, Open Society Initiative for East Africa, at rrwankangi@osiea.org or +256772302979

Youth AfriCamp: Building expressive advocacy capacity for youth participation

Themes: Youth and New Media; African Youth Charter and African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

Open Society Institute, Youth Initiative seeks to empower youth to become active citizens who are willing and able to influence public life and promote open society ideals. The international initiative is an expansion of what began in 1995 as the Debate Program. While its work with debate continues, the initiative also provides small grants and technical assistance to build the capacity of youth-focused local organizations and encourage a broader range of youth-led projects that promote open society values. The Youth Initiative (YI) aims to build a community of networked, civically engaged young leaders who understand the underpinnings of a democratic society, and will therefore become its active guardians.- www.soros.org/youth

The Youth AfriCamp provides a forum that allows the participating youth to showcase their work in their respective regions.  In addition, the camp includes training segments that will allow youth to acquire skills in creative social messaging techniques that they can apply to their work. The YI sees added value in convening the AfriCamp to not only act as facilitator and sponsor, but most importantly, to raise the profile of the work young people are doing under challenging conditions.

The AfriCamp will bring young activists together so that they can learn from one another while we learn from them. It is integral for the YI to identify these local actors and collect this information to inform the OSI network. It will allow young activists to gain hands-on training in new media that could be translated to their advocacy efforts in their given fields. The participants will be recruited across the sub-Sahara Africa with ages ranging from 18-29 years.

Format

The AfriCamp will accommodate both Francophone and Anglophone participants.  The selection process will be competitive ensuring high caliber participants. The format includes a week long combination of presentations, training sessions and breakaway sessions for direct peer consultation for those working on similar issues or issues of interest. Training sessions will consist of outside facilitators procured by the YI as well as peer to peer trainings. The event will culminate with an afternoon long advocacy concert featuring local artists. The Youth Initiative has developed the following general themes for the Youth Camp: Youth and New Media, Youth and the Africa Youth Charter, Youth and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

To register, fill in an application form online: http://www.idebate.org/africamp/ and for any inquiries please contact Ronald on email:  rrwankangi@osiea.org.

Application deadline 5^th March 2010.