1. Background
In the current global scenario, youth play a critical role in shaping the future. Africa is poised as the youngest continent in the world, in relation to its population makeup – a unique opportunity for inclusive economic growth, innovation, and sustainable development. The youth bulge if properly harnessed, can be a powerful engine for an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa. Likewise, the Nile Basin Region hosts a large youth population, another prospect for fostering a new shared vision for inclusive development and demographic dividend, especially on matters relevant to the geopolitical economy of the Nile Basin.
Recognizing this, the youth of the Nile Basin Region, having seen the need to empower and improve the lives of young people in the region through education, entrepreneurship, and employment in agriculture, energy, and minerals sectors; youth engagement, peacebuilding; arts, culture and sports; and domestication of regional and continental policies that advance Africa’s sustainable development. Further, determined to take up the multifaceted challenges in cognizance of the youth’s solemn role in promoting the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and African Union’s Agenda 2063 among the youth of the region irrespective of their heterogeneities.
Further, decided to establish the Nile Youth Development Actions (NYDA) in 2017, to be a grassroots catalyzer focusing on advancing the local socio-economic development in the Nile Basin Region (NBR) and decided that the NBR shall include youth, aged between 18 and 35 years from the Nile Basin countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. While Somalia and Djibouti were considered observing members given their proximity to the Nile Basin Region.
With that in mind, the NYDA was founded to further promote a shared vision and enhance cooperation among the riparian countries through youth-led Nile Basin regional diplomacy in an attempt to deepen collaboration and sustainable development. The region’s demographic, economic growth and the need to sustain the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people have put increasing pressure to revitalize the current bilateralism to an inter-generational multilateralism approach with a shared and collective vision to avert the emergence of corrosive diplomacy.
As a result, the youth of the Nile Basin committed themselves to promoting peace and security, regional integration, arts and cultures, socio-economic development, and enhanced cooperation in all eleven Nile Basin countries. And proposed the organization of the inaugural Nile Basin Youth Summit (NBYS) which aims at harnessing the potential of young minds to promote inclusive diplomatic representations and the Nile Basin’s regional interests for equitable sustainable socio-economic development.
The summit will bring together senior government officials, policymakers, researchers, academia, development partners, representatives of basins, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector, youth and women groups, the media, and local communities in the Nile Basin Region.
2. Objective
The primary objective of the summit is to provide a platform for youth to voice their ideas, engage in dialogues, and contribute to the Nile Basin Region’s shared vision that transcends borders and ideologies. The summit will focus on themes such as Youth, Peace, and Climate Action; Leadership for the Nile Basin We Want; Intercultural Exchanges and Education; and Tourism and Interbasin Trade.
3. Rationale
The current situation of the African youth reflects that many young people are marginalized from mainstream society through inequalities in incomes, wealth and power, unemployment and underemployment, infected and affected by the health pandemics, living in situations of poverty and hunger, experiencing literacy and poor quality educational system, restricted access to health services and information, exposure to violence including gender violence, human trafficking, engaging in armed conflicts and experiencing various forms of discriminations and the wrath of natural disasters. Despite the efforts of all African countries to bring issues of youth forth, the efforts are yet to deliver on the expectations of the young people.
With all these concerns in play, the NYDA is envisioning a transformative positive youthquake that considers young people as partners, assets, and a prerequisite for sustainable development, peace, and prosperity in the Nile Basin Region with a unique contribution to make to the present and future development bearing in mind the role young people have played in the process of decolonization of Africa. Therefore, meaningful engagement of young people entails allowing youth to be part of formulating the political discourse to contribute to bringing new priorities that are distinctive and also valuable to the Nile Basin’s regional affairs such as increasing youth enthusiasm to actively participate at local, national, regional and international levels to determine their development and advancement of societies.
The Nile Basin Region must, therefore, consolidate the positive turnaround, using the opportunities of demographics, natural resources, urbanization, technological advancement, tourism, intercultural exchange, and interbasin trade as a springboard to ensure its transformation and renaissance to meet the people’s aspirations. With this backdrop, NYDA and its partners are collaboratively convening the inaugural “Nile Basin Youth Summit” to enhance young people’s meaningful participation in driving the implementation of sustainable development goals and the Africa We Want Agenda that complements the regional and national developmental plans in the Nile Basin countries.
4. Outcomes
The summit will endorse a youth-led transformation plan that reflects the Nile Basin’s regional realities, aspirations, and priorities. It will also foster a network of young leaders who can collaborate on future initiatives and deliberate on the current geopolitical divide in the Nile Basin Region and the Greater Horn of Africa and encourage positive co-opetition to diplomacy and promote mutual understanding in managing new risks in the Nile Basin. The summit will outline actions in an implementable declaration for the Nile Basin Region the youth want in the twenty-first century.
5. Summit’s Themes
The summit’s delegates will debate, formulate, and share innovative solutions for tackling the most pressing challenges the Nile Basin Region is currently confronted with. The discussions will be guided by the general theme of the Summit: “Borderless Nile Basin: Deepening Cooperation through Youth, Peace Education and Intercultural Exchanges.”
Day 1: Youth, Peace, and Climate Action
The engagement of youth in the areas of peace, security, and climate action is crucial for driving change and ensuring a better future for all. Their energy, creativity, and unique perspectives are essential in the regional efforts to address the challenges of peace, security, and climate change that cause conflicts, displacements, and natural resource constraints. It is undeniable that an empowered youthful generation is seen as a transformational opportunity to advance an inclusive peace dividend, promote a green economy, accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and lay the foundation for a sustainable future for all.
Consequently, the theme will examine the state of peace and security in the Nile Basin Region and spotlight the successes and challenges in tackling violent conflicts and promoting good governance mirroring the aspiration of the African Union’s initiative to silence the guns by 2030. It will further take profound youth-centric postures that assess the possible impact of the multipolarity in the region. Additionally, the participants will design deterrence approaches for coercive diplomacy in the Nile Basin Region. These dialogues will be carried out within the context of the effects of the global challenges that seek to erode the cultural and national essence of the African continent for peace and harmony. Finally, it will examine avenues for youth participation in finding a solution to the region’s most pressing issues, especially the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) negotiations and development in the Greater Horn of Africa.
Day 2: Leadership for the Nile Basin We Want
The persistent failure to include youth equitably in political decision-making processes at the transboundary level undermines progress towards cooperative and sustainable management and development of internationally shared natural resources including river basins, water bodies, and aquifers, as well as between jurisdictions in the same country.
The theme aims to enhance the collective capacity of youth throughout the Nile Basin and support their engagements in decision-making and peacebuilding processes in the region and promote a unified call for a paradigm shift toward lasting peace. This will further ensure youth participation in the leadership in the Nile Basin countries and include their distinctive knowledge, diverse perspectives, and experiences to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of relevant natural resources issues and identify a broader set of equitable solutions to contemporary challenges.
Day 3: Intercultural Exchange and Education
In today’s interconnected world, education transcends beyond the traditional boundaries of learning, and its further cuts across geographic borders. Among the pivotal aspects of this global and regional educational landscape is intercultural exchange and peace teaching. The intercultural exchange in peace education enriches the learning experience, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, which is essential in shaping globally competent individuals, and fostering regional peace and harmony.
In the realm of peace education, embracing a variety of cultures transforms institutions into vibrant hubs of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This exposure is pivotal in promoting a culture of inclusivity and respect for different heritages, traditions, and norms. This not only fosters a sense of belonging for everyone but also cultivates an environment where everyone feels valued and understood, a replica the youth aspire to implement to promote unity and prosperity of the people, especially the youth in the Nile Basin countries through exchange educational programs; regional intercultural events and sports tournaments; and multicultural festivals and celebrations.
Day 4: Tourism and Inter-basin Trade
Day four will help in understanding the nuances of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the youth to take advantage of the cross-border and inter-basin trading in goods and services. It will further explore the modalities for engaging young people in a strategic partnership to facilitate access to the AfCFTA markets. The theme will uncover the gap in information about the continental agreement and identify means of active engagement by the government, private sector, women, youth, and civil society in accelerating its implementation in the Nile Basin Region. Furthermore, trading has the potential to promote tourism in the region which is quite diverse and offers a wide range of attractions and activities including sightseeing of historic sites, cities, and natural landscapes.
6. Participants and Target Audience
The Summit’s target participants are senior government officials, policymakers, development actors, researchers, academia, representatives of basins, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector, youth and women groups, the media, and local communities in the Nile Basin countries.
The summit will bring together 300 young leaders from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. And observing members from Somali and Djibouti.
The summit will feature multi-stakeholder dialogues, a high-level ministerial panel on the Nile Basin We Want, plenary sessions, parallel technical sessions, workshops and networking sessions. Participants will further have the opportunity to interact with trade, tourism, and industry leaders, policymakers, and peers. It will also include intercultural exchange activities, visits to museums, sports, and planting seedlings.
8. Date and Venue
The summit dates will be confirmed once substantive progress is achieved in its preparation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
9. Organizers
The summit will be organized by the Nile Youth Development Actions in partnership with the host country, partnering organizations, and development actors.
10. Partner with us
There are great possibilities to be a partner in a journey where young people come together to foster cooperation in creating a borderless Nile Basin Region. There will be opportunities to host and facilitate plenary discussions, speak, and even moderate a session. Your sponsorship will make the inaugural Nile Basin Youth Summit (NBYS) successful.
Partnership at the National Level
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- Contribute toward the overall pre-summit budget and accommodation of the delegates.
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- Organize or sponsor a roundtable discussion, workshop, or seminar at the Nile Basin Youth pre-summit events.
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- Purchase exhibition space at the National pre-summit events
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- Sponsor-selected or nominated delegates for the National Pre-summit events.
Partnership at the Regional and Continental Level
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- Contribute toward the overall summit budget or sponsor a budget line and accommodation of delegates.
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- Sponsor a session planned at the Summit.
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- Organize roundtable discussions, workshops, and seminars at the Summit.
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- Sponsor a sub-theme session at the Summit.
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- Sponsor-selected or nominated summit delegate.
11. Information
For inquiries on how to participate in this summit, reach out to the organizing team via email at NileYouthDevelopmentActions@gmail.com
