The United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme and AIESEC, a non-governmental organisation devoted to youth related issues, are courting the involvement of young people across Africa to develop a youth friendly framework on how to implement the SDG at National and Regional levels.
The two bodies organised a two-day workshop on 7-8 September in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and brought together young people from eleven countries from West and Central Africa to explore the possibility of using volunteerism to help harness potential of young people to take active interest in the SDGs. Participants came from Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Cape Verde.
UNV officers say the workshop gave a practical interpretation to the underlying principle ‘Leaving No-One Behind’. The event considered youths as catalyst in achieving the 2030 Agenda, getting them involved in the project framework co-creation and the programmatic approach in terms of their participation to SDG implementation.
The workshop was attended by representatives from Senegal, regional UN agencies (such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO and ILO), JICA, KOICA and the private sector. A representative from Microsoft in West Africa, who attended the workshop, also informed participants about how ICT can be leveraged to create innovative ideas to tackle the SDGs through volunteerism.
For more info, see:
UN Senegal (French)
AIESEC (video)