Summit for creating young leaders starts

YOUTH from across the East African Community (EAC) member states have started deliberations here, in a leadership summit that is strategising on empowerment, tackling employment and other challenges, deliberations that would be presented to the bloc’s governments.

At a week-long summit bringing aboard more than 200 youth, government, civil society sector, policy makers, academics and social entrepreneurs, delegates are facilitating a step-by-step appreciation of the current opportunities within EAC and outside the bloc.

According to Mr Ezra Mbogori, Principal of the MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation at Usa River in Arumeru District where the summit is being held, young people need to take leadership and have the ability to change East Africa and even Africa for betterment, adding that it was time to exercise the leadership now.

The don said the summit was letting the youth raise ideas, discuss and forge ways forward in ensuring the reduction and subsequent end to unemployment as well as ways for their empowerment in self employment and business.

He said there was a mistaken notion that power should be handed over but the truth was that there needs to be some fight, though not in the form of violence but resistance.

The programme is challenging young people to think beyond conventional takes, engage with others in EAC integration as they are the highest in numbers in terms of population in the region, but in addition they have to find means to create opportunities to deepen partnership and cooperation among the youth from participating sectors and countries.

Under the theme ‘Unlocking Youth Leadership Potential: Youth at the Centre of the East African Integration’, the summit aims to provide the youth of Africa with the necessary skills to manoeuvre the innovative era, and inspire them to make a positive impact in the East African region, and beyond.

Another objective is to nourish constructive exchange of ideas and good practices, handson skills development and concludes with a ‘call for action’ that will be addressed to the EAC and its member states,” said the principal.

Launching the summit, the Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office – Labour, Youth and Employment, Mr Anthony Mavunde noted that it was a platform for brave, action-oriented and most inspiring young leaders, changemakers, start-uppers and entrepreneurs who demonstrate motivations in changing and developing societies for betterment.

Mr Mavunde, himself a youth, said the platform would create a common space for critical assessment of the gaps in legal, policy and institutional frameworks in EAC countries.

“Through countries’ realties and case studies, I urge you to share knowledge, experience, skills and attitudes necessary for appreciating the role and position of youth in a society and how you can collectively create an enabling environment for every one of you to effectively take part in leadership, fostering integration and development process regardless of social, economic and cultural and political background,” said the minister.

Mr Mavunde noted that it was time to appreciate opportunities and challenges in East Africa in all sectors and at all levels – cognisant that the youth are important stakeholders. He said the EAC as a uniting body cultivated and encouraged young leaders to make impact in all sectors.

He said that despite high economic growth in partner states, youth unemployment remained a great concern for the region, as it slowed down economies and caused social problems.

The DSW Tanzania Country Director, Mr Peter Owaga, said as his organisation worked with the youth in EAC countries and Ethiopia, they had, at hand, evidence that the youth could lead and needed not to wait.

He said youth were needed for economic development, so as to spearhead their respective countries to prosperity. Meanwhile, HAZLA OMAR reports that the East Africa Youth Leadership Summit has just kicked off at the Training Center for Development Cooperation Campus in Usa-River, Meru District, with over 200 young people from all the six EAC member states in attendance.

“The Summit maintains its focus to empower young people in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and lately South Sudan to unlock their potential in creating opportunities, not sitting back to wait for ‘opportunities,’ that may never materialise,” explained Mr Ivon Atuyambe, the Summit Director.

Themed ‘Unlocking Youth Leadership Potential: Youth at the Centre of the East African Integration’, the Summit is organised by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with MS TCDC and runs from 27th November to 1st December, 2017 at the Training Centre for Development Cooperation (MS-TCDC) Campus in Usa River with some sessions also set to take place at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha.


The Summit, abbreviated as You-Lead, has been organised in line with the provisions of the EAC Youth Policy (2016) Priority 14 which mandates the EAC Secretariat to build networks and partnerships and particularly to “institute an annual youth leaders’ forum with the EAC Secretary General as a regional platform for youth engagement with the EAC leadership.”