Staff Reporter
THE European Union (EU) recently launched the Youth Sounding Board (YSB) in Namibia, with the aim of creating enduring change in how the EU engages with young people in its policy work and cooperation.
Sinikka Antila, the EU Delegation’s Ambassador to Namibia, explained that the YSB has been established in 15 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. In Namibia, she added, the YSB generated significant interest, receiving over 200 applications, and the EU aimed to ensure diversity in the selection process.
“We were positively surprised about the number of youths who were already engaged in youth empowerment initiatives. Also, the Reserve List is full of candidates who could very well have joined now. For us, this is very good news. We will learn a lot about your experiences and we are eager to hear what you say,” Antila said.
Antila expressed hope that the YSB would contribute to job creation and open up new opportunities for the youth.
“We want to see job creation, and especially new opportunities for the youth. We are counting on the YSB, on all of you experience, to help us in this work. We work closely with our EU Member States as the role of Youth is a shared priority for the whole EU,” the ambassador added.
She further emphasized that the YSB is supported by the Youth Action Plan (YAP) for EU external action (2022 – 2027), which aims to strengthen ties between the youth in Europe and Africa. The YAP, she added, seeks to shape external action in partnership with young people worldwide to expedite progress towards the 2023 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international commitments, such as the United Nations (UN) Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda.
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