[afro-nets] African Regional Youth Initiative: February 2007 Update

[Neema Mgana <nmgana@yahoo.com>]

African Regional Youth Initiative - February 2007 Update
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1. The African Participatory Monitoring Initiative: Meeting
February 17, 2007 in Yaounde, Cameroon
2. Panel on African Commissions- Youth Coordinators: Cross-
national consultations beginning March 2007
3. Internship Opportunity: HIV/AIDS Events Coordinator
4. African Women of Distinction: Project Update
5. Regional Partnership Announcement
6. Interested to join the ARYI South Africa team?

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1. The African Participatory Monitoring Initiative (APMI)

Introduction:

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) are prepared by
governments in low-income countries through a participatory
process involving domestic stakeholders as well as external
development partners, including the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank. To date, the involvement of civil
society in PRSP processes has been minimal in most African
countries. As a strategy to analyze the degree of civil society
engagement and also develop plans to promote civil society
participation, the African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI)
proposes a series of civil society consultations to:

1. Amplify Stakeholders' Voices - Collect and disseminate the
opinions, critiques and suggestions of CSO regarding the PRSP.
2. Coordinate CSO Around Policy Issues - Foster discussion and
debate amongst CSO regarding the PRSP process, foster greater
CSO networking and greater regional CSO cooperation and
cohesiveness in PRSP processes.
3. Integrate Stakeholders Views into Viable Macroeconomic Policy
Prescriptions.
4. Mobilize for Open Dialogue - Mobilize CSO from all over the
continent to advocate for greater participation in the PRSP
process and/or alternative consultative processes where
stakeholders' concerns and ideas are valued and used to make
policy.

ARYI's PRSP Consultations:

Based on the organization's expertise and outreach in Africa,
ARYI has developed a model consultation process for
implementation in twenty countries in Africa to achieve the
above objectives. By incorporating civil society's views and
voices in a concrete macroeconomic plan we hope to open up
policy dialogues and make them representative of stakeholders.

ARYI propose a series of CSO consultations in 2007 to take place
in African countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Chad, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania,
Uganda, and Zambia. The first consultation will be in Yaounde,
Cameroon on February 17, 2007.

Consultation in Cameroon:

The consultation will take place on February 17, 2007 from 10:30
am-3:00 pm at the MIFED Conference Hall in Etoa-Meki
neighbourhood in Yaounde, Cameroon. CSOs are welcome to
participate for free. For more information, please contact the
APMI Coordinator, Theodore Tangie at
cameroon@africaninitiative.org or longtchi@yahoo.com.

Special thank you to Myles Lennon who conducted both qualitative
and quantitative research on PRSPs in Africa, and lead the
development of the APMI.

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2. Panel on African Commissions- Youth Coordinators

I'm honoured to give an update about the Panel on African
Commissions (PAC) and the call sent late last year for two Youth
members of the Panel. We received tremendous responses for this
position, which made the decision a very difficult one. Each
applicant had a wealth of experience which lead to the decision
to recruit not just two Youth members of the PAC, but to open
the space for the majority of applicants to be PAC National
Youth Coordinators.

As of January 24, 2007 members of the PAC National Youth
Coordinators include Jared Otieno (Kenya), Narcisse Mbunzama
(Democratic Republic of Congo), Mbonisi Zikhali Zimbabwe),
Kassin Abdillahi (Djibouti), Kolawole Oreoluwa (Nigeria),
Goodluck Lyatuu (Tanzania), Mbaye Maniang Sénégal (Senegal), and
Zuhur Yassin Ibrahim (Somaliland).

A balance for regional, gender and language representation in
the Youth Coordinators was of utmost importance to get this
final list of Coordinators. These coordinators, who will be
engaged in this work from 2007-2008, have been contacted by e-
mail regarding this post. In addition, Bella Akhagba of Nigeria
and Maniang Mbaye of Senegal will be respective Managers of the
PAC Youth Coordinators.

As a background, the PAC aims to promote participatory analysis
and to develop national recommendations contributing to efforts
leading to a strong and prosperous Africa. This Panel was
created as part of ARYI's existing national and sub-regional
structure allowing youth and adults to discuss and work jointly
on development issues in Africa.

Stakeholders, practitioners and experts on several fields have
been consulted since the development of the PAC.

The next step with PAC is to conduct national consultations,
with one in Senegal already planned for May 2007. This meeting
will be the first of the PAC meetings meant to gather new
thinking and action on social and economic issues affecting
women and youth in Senegal.

A first set of national consultations will take place from
February to May 2007. Additional activities for the PAC will be
planned by National Youth Coordinators.

Yours Sincerely,

Bella Akhagba (Nigeria) and Mbaye Maniang Diagne (Senegal)
PAC YOUTH MANAGERS

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3. Internship Opportunity: HIV/AIDS Events Coordinator

The African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI) is hosting global
activities on Children and HIV/AIDS in May 2007 and seeks a
person to coordinate these events. Main responsibilities of the
HIV/AIDS Events Coordinator Intern include coordinating
communication of a coalition of organizations, developing an
organizational database, and managing the content of a website
and a blog.

Other responsibilities:
? Serve as the liaison between ARYI and partner organizations in
Africa and around the world.
? Work with partner organizations in the creation of a database
and an events notebook to assist the next year's Event
Coordinator Intern in their planning.
? Attend monthly meetings (electronically), and report progress
on the planning of events.
? In consultation with ARYI, work to ensure that 1-year
benchmarks related to major events have been achieved by May
2007.
? Recruit and oversee the work of volunteers needed for the
events.

A stipend is available for this position and it is expected that
the Intern will work at least 8-10 hours per week from mid-
February to mid-May 2007. The ideal candidate will reside in
Africa (although not a requirement), must have relevant
experience (either as a volunteer or in a paid position),
reliable access to the Internet, and be fluent in English.

Those interested to apply, please send a copy of your curriculum
vitae to info@africaninitiative.org by February 12, 2007. Women
are encouraged to apply.

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4. African Women of Distinction: Project Update

African Women of Distinction is collaborating with African
Regional Youth Initiative in organizing Young Women?s
Consultations to take place in February 2007 in Dar es Salaam
(Tanzania), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Accra (Ghana). The
consultations, implemented in the three countries by young men
and women of AWOD will provide a platform for young men and
women to analyze, compare, and document the implementation of
relevant national policies.

To learn more about the project visit us online at:
www.amandakoster.com/awod

Update on AWOD and the World Social Forum: Blog entry from Tony
Odek, AWOD-Kenya Country Leader

We are glad to report that we all gathered in Nairobi for the
great World Social Forum (WSF) from 19-25 January, 2007. The
Kenyan interns welcomed Neema Mgana on the 19th and meet with
her that day. On the 20th, a lot of activities took place
including a March on Poverty. The interns and Mgana got the
chance to participate on behalf of AWOD. On the same day, AWOD
interns met with 1000 Women for Peace. The meeting was arranged
by Mgana. She is currently linking us with other organizations
that share in AWOD visions. On the 21st we participated in
Comparative Leadership and Education forum. Here the
participants compared education systems in Kenya and Sweden. We
also had the chance to participate in Women and Culture forum
amongst other meetings. The AWOD intergenerational dialogue took
place on the 22nd.

As the AWOD interns, we glad to participate in discussions,
visit places, participate in peace walk and share our
experiences where we are accommodated. We are excited by the
desire of many Kenyans to be part of the AWOD activities and
encourage all of you to be a part of AWOD as well, and to tell
others about the African Women of Distinction.

-A message from Tony Odek (AWOD Country Lead in Kenya)

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5. Regional Partnership

AIESEC Africa is proud to announce that a regional partnership
has been signed with the African Regional Youth Initiative
(ARYI), based in Tanzania, for regional HIV/AIDS initiatives. In
the framework of the AIESEC ASK Program (Answers, Solutions and
Knowledge around HIV/AIDS), both organizations join efforts to
unite the work of youth and community-based projects and
organizations fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. The objectives of
this partnership are:

- In the framework of the ASK Program, AIESEC commits to
mobilize human resources in order to sensitize youth in Africa
around HIV/AIDS through the methodology of peer education. ARYI
commits to provide professional support to the logical framework
of this initiative, to encourage partners and clients to offer
technical and logistical support to the AIESEC local project
teams, and to help to find cash/in-kind donators based on the
needs of the project in the countries involved (Botswana,
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria,
Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe).

- In the framework of the AIESEC Global Leadership Program,
AIESEC in Africa and ARYI commit to mobilize partners and
clients to receive international students to work as interns on
local projects around HIV/AIDS.

- Collaboration on activities of mutual interest i.e. seminars,
projects, virtual platforms and conferences that aid youth
development and address social issues.

Stay tuned to our future Newsletters and forums for further
indications on how to bring this partnership to your local
projects. For further information about ARYI and the
partnership, just contact piero.ponce@aiesec.net, and visit the
ARYI website at http://www.africaninitiative.org/af

Let's empower Africa together with ARYI!

Piero Ponce
Aiesec-Africa

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6. Interested to join the ARYI South Africa team?

African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI) will be working on
development projects in South Africa beginning March 2007. If
you or your organization is based in South Africa and are
interested to join the ARYI team, please e-mail
info@africaninitiative.org with the subject header ?ARYI South
Africa?.

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About ARYI:
Formed three years ago, the African Regional Youth Initiative
(ARYI) works with over 400 youth and community-based
organizations across Africa addressing development issues
outlined in the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals-
namely, poverty and hunger, HIV/AIDS and malaria, primary
education, gender equity, child mortality, maternal health, and
environmental sustainability. The work of ARYI is based on
action plans developed by over twenty ARYI country and regional
teams.

To find out more information about ARYI, go to
http://www.africaninitiative.org/af or
mailto:info@africaninitaitive.org.