Ms. Natalie Sonia Mukundane, Acting Executive Chairperson of the African Youth Commission (AYC), is due to arrive in Banjul, for a six day official visit from October 20th to 26th 2018 ahead of the third African Youth Conference on African Unity and Development.
The conference will be co-hosted by the Gambia National Youth Council and the AYC Secretariat, scheduled to take place in Banjul from March 23 to 26 2019, under the theme: ‘The Future Is Now; Youth are Not Too Young to Lead’.
According to officials Ms. Natalie will meet with government ministers, youth leaders, youth organizations and youth development partners in private sector, civil society organizations, UN system, diplomatic and donor communities to discuss possible partnership and seek for support for the forthcoming Pan-African Youth Conference to be held next year.
During her official visit, Ms. Mukundane will participate in the Youth Agribusiness and Tourism Expo, organized by the Gambia Youth Chamber of Commerce, Capacity building training for youth in politics organized by the Gambia National Youth Council and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, and will hold a town hall meeting with young people as well as interact with law students at Law Faculty of the University of The Gambia as a young lawyer herself to inspire and learn from them.
She said: “This will be my first ever visit to West Africa, and I am not only looking forward to the hospitality I have heard of a lot. I am also looking forward to engaging with young minds and various stakeholders within the region, to understand their stance on issues pertaining to their own, national, regional and continental developments and how we can work together as young people to bring the change we want to see. I especially look forward to joining hands and effort with them all in making the hosting of the 3rd African Youth Conference on African Unity and Development in the Gambia a huge success. I congratulate the Gambia for being selected to host our prestigious Pan-African Youth Conference in 2019.”
However, part of her visit, she will officially sign the MoU with Gambia National Youth Council for the hosting of the Pan-African Youth Conference, launch the AYC Gambia National Consortium, and address the press and donor community on her visit to the Gambia to publicize and galvanize support for the conference in 2019.
Author: Sulayman Ceesay