The EU is looking for young people to take part in the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit and the subsequent Youth Plug-In Initiative. Young people should be between the age of 18 and 35 from Africa, Europe and the Diaspora, and will help develop recommendations and solutions to put forward to Heads of State at the 5th AU-EU Summit in November.

On November 29-30, African and European Heads of State will meet in Abidjan to discuss the priorities for partnership between the two continents for the years to come. The overarching theme will be “Investing in Youth” and ensuring an active and meaningful inclusion of young people in the run-up and at the Summit is a given.

African and European youth today have many challenges in common such as limited access to resources, education, and employment, along with social discrimination, lack of participation in decision-making and conflict resolution. By bringing together African and European Youth organisations and motivated and engaged young people, the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit and the EU-AU Youth Plug-In Initiative will strengthen the direct participation in a the political process affecting the livelihoods and future prospects of youth on both continents.

The 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit will gather 115 youth leaders from both continents, including African Diaspora, on 9-11 October in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to agree on a declaration with recommendations and messages on 6 themes including education, peace & security, climate & environment, business & job creation, political inclusion and culture.

A follow-up group of 36 youth selected for the EU-AU Youth Plug-In initiative will continue the work between October 27 and November 29. The group will be embedded in the AU and the EU as two Euro-African groups in both Addis and Brussels, to develop further ideas and proposal relating to the 6 themes for solutions, actions and initiatives.

The work of the Youth Summit and the Plug-In Initiative will be presented to the Heads of State at the 5th AU-EU Summit on November 29-30 in Abidjan.

All applications must be submitted by the end of Sunday, 6 August 2017.

The selection of participants will be made based on motivation and experience. The organisers of the Youth Summit and the Plug-In Initiative institutions will ensure balance in terms of age, gender, geography, background and diversity among selected participants. Successful applicants will be notified by e-mail as soon as possible following the deadline.

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Press release

Applications from Diaspora, Africa, Europe