- NEPAD WORKSHOP -
Nepad youth leaders capacities empowerment sub regional workshop
Cotonou - Benin, Palais des Congrès, 11 - 13 , February 2005
THANKS
Youth has the will, they want to be fully associated and to take part indeed in the Africa Development. But it is necessary for them to be trained, to be informed in order to act in an effective and realistic way.
The satisfaction of these needs for practical Youth committment requires the will and the effective support of the adults, the African leaders of today who must prepare the new generations to take over.
Bringing together the West African Youth Leaders to provide them the necessary expertise for their implication in the promotion, the implementation and the effective follow-up of NEPAD (including the African Peer Review Mechanism -APRM) is an action of great scale towards this necessary youth empowerment to effectively participate in the change of African society.
Africa Peace, very happy to have been able to lead this first NEPAD Youth empowerment sub regional workshop, would like first of all to express here its sincere and deep thanks to all the participants who came from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo and to all the distinguished guests and actors of development who had honoured with their presence the opening ceremony on February 11 th , 2005.
Touched and comforted by their particular support in the organization of this workshop, Africa Peace would like in a special way to express its thanks to :
• the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa close the Benin one with residence in Abidjan - Côte.d'ivoire
• the NEPAD Secretariat, Pretoria - South Africa and,
• the Secretariat General of the African Parliamentarian Forum for NEPAD.
May all those who, closely or at disctance, contributed to the holding and the success of this workshop, find here the mark infinite of our recognition.
The Africa Peace team
Organizers
Initiated and entirely financed by the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa , Abidjan - Côte d'ivoire, this workshop was organized by Africa Peace a youth based NGO in Benin and technically supported by the NEPAD Secretariat.
Participants
The NEPAD Youth Leaders Capacities Empowerment Sub Regional Workshop gathered Workshop 25 young leaders active in various fields such as peace-building, conflicts transformation, human rights activism, entrepreneurship, leadership, gender, democracy, good governance, HIV/Aids and reproductive Health. The participants came from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'ivoire, Liberia, Niger, the Sierra Leone and Togo.
They were supervised by the NEPAD Secretariat represented by Tshepo NEITO, Assistant/Marketing & Communication, Tchameni NZINGA & Ms Litha Musyimi-Ogana, Advisor Civil Society & Gender, by the Embassy of South Africa represented by H.E. Samuel L. Makhanda, by H.E. Alfa - Niâky Barry, Secretary General of the African Parliamentarians Forum for NEPAD and by Daniel Edah, Executive Director of Africa Peace.
Objectives
The main objectives of this workshop were:
• To sensitize 25 West African youth leaders on the content and the importance of the New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD;
• To empower the capacities of the participants for the promotion, the implementation and the follow up of NEPAD
• To lead the participant to design action plans to get involved in the NEPAD promotion, implementation and follow up including APRM process in their respective countries
Outcomes
• 25 Youth Leaders empowered for NEPAD
• 25 West African Youth Leaders sensitized on the African Peer Review Mechanism - APRM
• 25 West African Youth Leaders trained in Advocacy techniques and in project conception
• Action plans designed by participants for the promotion, implementation, follow up of NEPAD and APRM in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'ivoire, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo.
SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES
Day 1: February 11, 2005
Day 1 was devoted to the opening ceremony, the opening statement, the communication 1 on the topic: African Renaissance, evolution of NEPAD and transformation of the OAU to UA including the APRM process and to a debate - exchange at the end of the day animated by His Excellency MAKHANDA Samuel on the richness of Africa, the necessary awarenss raising and change of mentality for the African Renaissance.
At the opening ceremony participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo. The NEPAD Secretary , the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, the General Secretariat of the African Parliamentarians Forum for NEPAD and the Benin Ministry of Youth, Sports and Hobbies were also present at the opening ceremony.
OPENING CEREMONY
Four main interventions resumed the ceremony, Africa Peace, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, NEPAD Secretariat and the Benin Ministry of Youth
• In his welcome address, Mr. Daniel Edah, Executive Director of Africa Peace, expressed Africa Peace's thanks to :
• the Ambassador and the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa for their trust and for sponsoring the workshop;
• to the NEPAD Secretariat for their effective implication in the holding and follow up of the workshop;
• to the Secretary General of the African Parliamentarians Forum for NEPAD for his committment towards effective youth development and participation in Africa Development through NEPAD and;
• to all participants for attending effectively the workshop and making it a reality.
According to him, the development of Africa will be possible with the participation of youth or it will never be carried out. After decades of wander, Africa comes to find its way towards the development thanks to the ingeniousness of the African Leaders through the operational startup of the New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD. The African population young moreover 70 percent must be associated, must adapt itself and take an active part in the implementation of the NEPAD. It concluded its short speech by promising to the guests and to hosts from mark present that this workshop will be actually sanctioned by action plans for concrete follow up in all the seven participants countries.
2 - His Execellency Makhanda L. Samuel , Councellor of the Embassy of South Africa - Abidjan, côte d'ivoire began his speech with thanks to Government of the Republic of Benin, to the members of Africa Peace for the warm, cordial reception and the hospitality which was reserved to them, to the NEPAD Secretariat for their collaboration with the Embassy of South Africa in Ivory Coast in the organization of this Workshop.
For him, the opening ceremony of the NEPAD Youth workshop is a happy coincidence between the starting of the workshop and the celebration of the ten years democracy of South Africa.
He pointed out the darkness of Africa development which can only be ended by an effective and successfull implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. For His Excellency, the future, and even the present, of Africa depend on Youth of Africa. He emphasised on the important role youth must play in the process of NEPAD through its promotion, its implementation and its follow up. The NEPAD, contrary to the speculations and critical, is a African initiative for the Africans and by the Africans. The NEPAD is all about Action, it's not a new creation, but it is capitalising on all the past initiatives and creating a new hope for Africa.
In this direction, it drew the attention of the participants to the fact that the goal of this workshop is to provide them expertise, to empower them to act and to get involved in the successful implementation of NEPAD in their respective countries. It finished its short speech by a quotation stipulating that leadership:
• is a relationship between people
• has moral and ethical implications
• is an ongoing process; it is not a (formal) position or event
• is about persuading people to be committed to action; it must, therefore, be free of coercion
• achives results
3 - Mr Tsepo Neito intervened on behalf of the NEPAD Secretariat.
After thanking the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa and the members of Africa Peace for organizing the workshop which is, according to him, "timely", he addressed the obligation of African Youth to change, since it is of its responsibility to place Africa in the current process of globalisation. According to him, it is necessary that African youth takes ownership of NEPAD through concrete actions to promote the wellbeing of populations in their respective Countries as well in the whole African Continent. Youth must endorse the New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD which constitutes an ultimate chance for the African Renaissance. "Youth must become Soldier and advocates for NEPAD", he said. In this regard, they need to be informed, to be trained and supported. The participation of the NEPAD Secretariat in this workshop is the proof of the great importance attached to Youth by authorithies in charge of NEPAD. He added, as information to partcipants, that NEPAD Secretariat has undertaken to design a programme 2005 - 2015 fully devoted to Youth. Therefore, he invited all the participants to make their input to make it an invaluable tool of youth participation in the Africa's development.
4 - Making the opening speech, Mr Clément DEGBO, Repesentative of the Benin Minister in charge of Youth, made the report that nearly two centuries after the end slavery and more than fifty years of independence, Africa is still behind in this era of the globalisation. Indeed it remains mined by many evils such as poverty, epidemics diseases such as HIV/Aids, etc.
For this reason the African Youth need to dream in order to be able to excel , acting for the Continent's development.
The organization of this workshop by Africa Peace NGO shows the passion of young people for the change.
He has, in the name of the Minister, emitted the wish that the Workshop can lead to a concrete youth action plan for the successful implementation of NEPAD in the seven countries participating in the workshop and end his speech by promising the support of the Ministry in charge of Youth to the actions which will be considered within the framework of the follow-up of the workshop.
OPENING STATEMENT
By H.E. Alfâ - Niaky Barry, Secretary General of the African Parliamentarians Forum for NEPAD
In his introductory words, H.E. expressed his thanks to the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, to the Executive Secretariat of the NEPAD and to Africa Peace for the effective holding of the NEPAD Youth Empowerment Sub Regional Workshop, activity approved the Parliamentarian Forum since his first contacts in July 2004 with Africa Peace.
Tackling the subject itself, H.E. the Secretary General of the African Parliamentarians Forum for NEPAD affirms that NEPAD represents a positive reality for the Africa's development. At the entry, he precised that the workshop must help participants to undertake and act, serving the Africa's the development, because the NEPAD is synonymous of concrete actions. But front, he reviewed the efforts and initiatives of the African leadership since the time of Panafricanists such as Nkrumah, Agostino Neto, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara, etc. He put the emphasis on the vision of Africa's Liberation which guided these precursors, fathers founders and defenders of the Organization for the African Unit - OAU. They fought indeed so that Africa is independent. Today, African youth must be delighted that all Africa is out of any colonial or foreign domination.
Passed the fight for independences, the African leadership launched out in the combat for the development of Africa. The Plan of Lagos could have regulated the problems of development of Africa if it was accompanied by clear measurements and were supported by an integrated mechanism of implementation. He thinks that the advent of the New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD right after the birth of the African Union constitutes a chance to suppress the problems of underdevelopment daily encountered by Africa and which present Africa as a people of misery, hunger, wars, diseases, a noncompetitive continent at the world level. Homage was paid to the Parents of the NEPAD which are Presidents Thabo MBEKI of South Africa, Abdoulaye WADE of Senegal, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. It did not forget all the valiant African Heads of State who support and fight daily for implementation of the NEPAD.
He expressed special thanks to Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, Chairperson of the NEPAD Steering Committee for his detremination and persevrance in concretizing and pushing forward the NEPAD Agenda.
According to him, NEPAD, far from being a plan moreover, is a layer of actions. Considering the high percentage of youth in the African population, considering that the young people are the leaders of tomorrow, but considering also that they are also Co-actors of the present, the communicator recommends that youth is placed in the center of the implementation of the NEPAD, that they are reinforced to adapt its contents indeed and to translate it into concrete actions for the blooming and the socio-economic takeoff of the African Continent.
Regarding the Secretariat-general of the Forum of the African Parliamentarians for NEPAD, they are prepared to accompany African youth in all its initiatives, in all its ambitions aiming to ensure its full participation in the decision-making and the implementation of the New Partenership for Africa's Development NEPAD.
Communication 1
African Renaissance; evolution of NEPAD and transformation of OAU into AU including process APRM
By: Tshepo Neito, assistant Marketing & Mrs Litha Musyimi-Ogana, Adviser in Civil society and gender / Secretariat of the NEPAD.
NB:Started by Tshepo NEITO, this communication was enriched the second day by the arrival of Mrs Litha.
The presentation reviewed the great stages of the process having led to official launching of the NEPAD.
This history threw a glance on the vision which chaired the birth of the Organization of African Unity - OAU. This Panafrican organization had the essential role the release of Africa from the colonial yoke. In 1994, after the independence of South Africa from the Apartheid regime, the political liberation of the entire Africa became a reality.
Passed this challenge of political release, Africa must face the daily needs of its children and assume its own development. It became then pressing to re-examine the Organization of the African Unity - OAU and to redefine a new orientation which corresponds better to the new aspirations of the African People. Because, the political independence of Africa was quickly accompanied by a strong economical dependence which makes Africa unable to face the so many social problems, serious obstacles on its way to development.
This is how is explained the passage of the OAU with the UA. The launching of the NEPAD at the time of the top 2002 of the African Union with Lusaka in Zambia aims to address the socio-economical challenges which are posed in Africa after its independence. The role of the Women will have been determinent in the result of this process. The NEPAD is not an institution which competes with the African union, but rather a program of the Union to make effective the African Renaissance. The NEPAD is a program conceived by the Africans and for the Africans. It is not a new creation, the ideas and projects of the New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD are initiatives in progress so far, even before the period of independences and which could not be concretized, due to lack of mechanism and engagement lights. With the difference of the past plans, the NEPAD has a passenger waybill and an institutional structuring with focal points on the level of each country. It is the fruit of the engagement of the African Heads of State who, for once and in an official way, take the measurement of the challenges that universalization imposes to Africa.
As for its objectives, the NEPAD, with its preoccupation of consolidation of the democracy and the healthy management of the African Continent, aims to:
• create a genuine environment for the economic growth, for development in each African country, but also on the scale of the continent, by reinforcing good political and economic management;
• eradicate poverty in Africa and to place the African countries, individually and collectively, on the way of a durable growth and development
• improve management of the public incomes
• mainstream women participation in all development processes
• attract the maximum of the foreign investors with convincing initiatives
• improve the management of public revenue
Resting on its three essential pillars, the implementation of the NEPAD passes by projects.
A detailed list of the projects is available on the website:www.mapstrategy.com. Nevertheless, it is necessary to retain, by way of example, of the priority projects in the following fields:
• Agriculture
• Promotion of the private sector
• Infrastructures and regional integration
The pillars on which rests this implementation are:
• Infrastructures
• Commercial liberalization
• Peace & security
However the implementation of the NEPAD could not be a success without its true appropriation by the Africans in general and the young people in particular. The latter must act together to change the current face of the Continent thanks to the ultimate opportunity which is NEPAD.
The African Peer Review Mechanism - APRM
The APRM is an instrument agreed by the members of the African Union to monitor the development progress made in each country. This mechanism aims to encourage members states to respect all their committments and all political and economical good practices to ensure that the NEPAD goals are fully achieved.
The focus areas of the APRM are:
• Democracy and political governance
• Economic governance and management
• Socio-economic development
Summary of the debates on communication 1, chaired by His Excellency Samuel L. Makhanda
This debate helped to inlight the participants on a number of concerns having been the subject of questions addressed to the Communicators.
One of the questions was the funds needs for the implementation of NEPAD. According to H.E. Excellency MAKHANDA, the NEPAD will need six billion dollars per year. Fifty percent of this budget should come from Africa. Other half coming outside should be allocated without restriction, without imposition. The financial principles must go in the direction of the partnership. Moreover, it is necessary that we have a long-term vision of the NEPAD. It is necessary to see the future of the NEPAD not only in one century, but also in thousand years. An important question was raised concerning the participation of the "simple" African in the application of the NEPAD. Namely if it would be possible that they are not only the African leaders who direct the NEPAD. Mr. Neito answered that the NEPAD would need the voice of all the Africans, therefore of all the participants of the workshop. As that it would be necessary that on the level of each one of their countries they are these participants who popularize the NEPAD. Its excellence Mr. Makhanda increases by affirming that the NEPAD must touch the life of each African in the most moved back hamlets. With this intention, there must be national focal points, which initial goal would be financing of projects carrying hope. But it is also necessary to think of how the NEPAD will be maintained in the future, for how it will be able to survive of itself. Its Excellence MAKHANDA affirms that a basic solution is peace and safety. If each African country were in peace, we could have the certainty which the NEPAD could be maintained in a final way, because it is through the war that are spent the million dollars, coming from the African budgets. It is thus crucial to associate peace and development. It is in the sense that a multisector programme of stability in all the States is essential for the development of the NEPAD. With this intention, all the participants must fight at the national level for peace and political stability. Africa is rich, but enormously of money is spent in the wars. We must question ourselves on how to manage to change the things for a durable development coming from the interior. It is in the sense that its Excellence MAKHANDA with suggested that the African private sector is, an imperative way, implicated in the NEPAD process.
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DAY 2 - February 12, 2005
COMMUNICATION 2 :
The role of agriculture in the Africa's development, by Mr. Noël KOFFI, Researcher, Agricultural Engineer
Mr. Koffi began his communication while trying to understand the difference between the white race and the black one. The color of the skin is the obvious observation, but there is also another aspect to be exploited, the thought. The African doesn't know how to exploit his thought, and this because of his culture of safeguarding, of perpetuity.
But it is not another continent which will be able to develop Africa. He returns only to itself to develop, with the thoughts, the actions of his children. He pushes further while affirming that if Africa does not do anything, it will disappear...
For not to arrive at this extreme, only one thing can release the African thought: knowledge. Because ignorance prevents the development. We must thus train youth.
He continued by supporting the fact that agriculture is the response Number One to the problems of under development, because it's thus Africa will develop. Why a continent as green as Africa is not able to be selfsufficient in terms of food security? It is true that there are many agricultural problems, like the dryness, the insects, etc. It returns to the African from there to find the solutions adapted to these difficulties. For example, European manures are not adapted to the ground and heat African. We must ourself improve technologies of agriculture. There must be a motorization of agriculture, i.e. including the irrigation, mechanization and the tools.
Mr. Koffi ended his communication suggesting that the NEPAD should be an operational control and research center. It is thanks to the training that Youth will be trained to produce.
He thus leads the idea to create five agricultural training centers in the various parts of the African continent: West Africa, Southern Africa, the East Africa, central Africa and the Maghreb.
These centers will train African youth in the direction of the agricultural productivity, because it is from its food self-sufficiency that Africa can be able to develop.
Role of youth in the implementation of the NEPAD
Animated by Mr Daniel EDAH Executive Director of Africa Peace , this session of brainstorming led the participants to retain the possible actions of the young people hereafter in promotion - appropriation of the NEPAD, in the implementation and the follow-up of the NEPAD:
• Promotion and appropriation of the NEPAD
• Dissemination - popularization - sensitizing-
• Mobilization of youth
• Youth capacities empowerment
• Networking
• Implementation
• entrepreneurship: to invest the sector of the richnesses & employment
• promotion/defense of good governance, democracy, human rights, peace and security
• human rights education
• anti corruption fight
• advocacy
• lobbying
• Follow up
• watch-dogs of democratic principles & of good public management
• data collection and information on achievements made in the implementation of NEPAD
• periodic follow-up and evaluation through their implication in the African Peer Review Mechanism- APRM.
A particular accent was laid on the driving role that the entreprenariat must play in the necessary implication of the young people in the implementation of the NEPAD. This entreprenariat must be based on the exploitation of the local potentialities of the Continent. The creation of the richnesses starting from these potentialities will facilitate to face the thorn-bush problem of employment which blocks the healthy blooming of youth and its effective participation in the development of the African Society. The young people have this only means to force their development, and by the same occasion to improve the quality of life around them.
Presentation of the project of action plan of the young people on the NEPAD
Document under development, it action plan of the young people on the NEPAD was presented at the participants by Miss Tchameni NZINGA from the NEPAD Secretariat. The objective of the presentation of the document which was prolonged by the distribution of the copies to all the participants is to have the implication of the great possible number of young Africans in his nearest finalization and its adoption. She however drew the attention of the participants to the provisional character of the document which waits to be perfect by the contributions of the whole of the youth of the continent. The documents presents the vision, the goals and objectives of NEPAD.
Continuing his presentation, the speaker pointed out the challenges of African youth (access to education and training, poverty, employment, peace and safety, health, the HIV...) as well as the principles and strategies of development and the various programs envisaged in favour of the young people.
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DAY 3: February 13, 2005
The last day of the workshop had started with the departure of His Excellency Samuel Makhanda, recalled urgently for reasons of service in Côte d'Ivoire. It quickly spoke by testifying all its gratitude to Africa Peace, to the NEPAD Secretariat and to all the participants for their efforts brought for the success of the workshop. He also reiterated the engagement of the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Abidjan - Ivory Coast to support the concerted initiatives which will be taken by the participants in the follow - up of the workshop for the success of the NEPAD. The activities of the day were primarily made of trainings animated by Mrs Litha Musyimi-Ogana, Advisor Gender & Civil Society - Secretariat of the NEPAD.
Advocay Training
Ms. Musyimi-Ogana thus began her presentation by a brainstorming to encircle the contents of this important word in the effective implementation of the NEPAD. Using an extremely simple but constant participative approach, the formative trainer led the participants to define the advocacy, to define its characteristics before passing to the enumeration of its keys stages and to the concept of lobbying.
The advocacy consists in defending or taking part for a right cause , being organized to end a situation of social injustice, to enforce the application or to instigate the creation of laws in the direction of the positive social change.
The advocacy emphasizes the following key words:
• Defense
• Presentation
• Persuasion
• Lobbying
• Influence
The advocacy is for the good being of the society, it operates to benefit others and not its instigators, except when the actions relate to public questions of the community of membership of the latter.
Qualities of the advocacy
• Social, Community wellbeing
• Right and exact information
• Reliable statistical data
• Passion: it is inevitably necessary to be impassioned to carry out successfully an advocacy process.
Lobbying: strategy to mobilize the adequate persons/competencies for the resolution/satisfaction of a precise problem. It is used for the mobilization of the partners and actors around an advocacy action.
Stages of a good advocacy:
• To know the problem
• To define the Target
• To conceive and work out the suitable messages
• To set up a complete and adequate team for the execution of the advocacy strategy
This training was illustrated by the actions possible of advocacy on the political situation in Republic of Togo after the death of Late General GNASSINBGE Eyadéma. This helped to surround the outlines of the advocacy, qualities of a a good messenger in an advocacy activity and the difficulties encountered during the execution of an advocacy strategy.
Follow- up of the workshop
To empower participants' capacities for the follow-up, Mrs Litha Musyimi-Ogana taught them the key points to take into consideration while designing an action plan or conceiving a project.
The project is a document comprising mainly:
• Background of the organization
• Problems statement
• Context and Justification of the project
• Goal/mission
• Objectives
• Activities
• Indicators
• Funding and resources mobilization plan
• Follow-up
• Budget
A particular accent was put on qualities of the objectives as well as the definition of the indicators. The objectives must be SMART
• S pecific
• M easurable
• A chievable
• R ealistic
• T ime framed
As for the indicators, they must be precise and concrete, easily verifiable.
A logical framework of action plan was also shown to the participants who could make use of it in the development of their action plans of follow-up of the NEPAD Youth Empowerment Sub regional workshop, Cotonou - Benin, 11 - February 13, 2005.
This logical framework leads to answer the questions:
What (project)?
Who (organization, holder)
How
When
Indicators
Necessary Resources
Mrs Litha specified that this framework is not adapted for the tender of a project. To submit a project, it's necessary to produce both the logical framework as well as the complete project proposal.
In addition, in the design of the budget of a project, it is important not to omit any cost. It is necessary to take care to evaluate the needs well and to specify the contribution of the organization carrying the project. This last precision is often capital in the support granted to a project.
Resolutions of the participants for the follow-up
• Each participant, back in his organization, will have to conceive and send for inclusion in the final report, his action plan for the follow-up.
• the whole of the action plans will lead to a sub regional action plan supported by the West African Youth Leaders Network for the NEPAD, to be created in follow up.
• the actions of follow-up will be made in a concerted way, in synergy, in network.
Contribution of Jean Baptist MAMAH, ECOBANK Benin:
Mr. MAMAH put accent on the role of the private sector in the success of the NEPAD. Private sector must lead the richnesses creation through entrepreneurship. And speaking about the private sector, it makes to a great place to the young entrepreneurship and reveals the ambition of ECOBANK which is present in a number of countries in West Africa, to support the implementation of the NEPAD through the private sector. He led the participants to understand how functions the system of bank credit and the funding of the companies.
CLOSING CEREMONY
The closing ceremony of the NEPAD Youth Empowerment Sub regional workshop took place on February 13 th , 2005 at 18:00.
Floor was given to one participant per country to give impressions about the workshop. It arises that the workshop prepared them already, through the expertise/knowledge they have gained, for their implication in the promotion, the implementation and follow up of the NEPAD.
The participants also promised to spread their knowledge on the NEPAD around them, to mobilize youth and civil society in their respective countries. They moreover made the promise, the firm promise to work out, in the coming months, development of concrete projects covering all the fields targeted by the NEPAD, in order to submit them to the Secretariat of the NEPAD.
Mr Tshepo Neito, Assistant/Marketing & Communication / NEPAD Secretariat thanked the Embassy of South Africa to have associated the NEPAD Secretariat, Africa Peace for the excellent work achieved in the organization of the workshop and all the participants for being open-minded and for their engagement for the NEPAD.
"During three days spent together, you were at the school of the NEPAD, from now, you must become soldiers of the NEPAD" he added before concluding that the Secretariat of the NEPAD will support all the good initiatives in follow up of the NEPAD Youth Empowerment workshop, Cotonou - Benin, 11 - 13 February, 2005.
Mrs Litha Musyimi-Ogana, Advisor Gender & Civil Society / NEPAD Secretariat said her satisfaction to see that youth is mobilizing itself to take ownership of the NEPAD. He formulated the wish that this Youth committment empower the whole African civil society capacities to be more involved in the implementation and the follow up of the NEPAD.
Mr Daniel EDAH, Executive Director of Africa Peace thanked the NEPAD Secretariat of the NEPAD, the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa and His Excellency Samuel L. Makhanda, for their confidence in Africa Peace in the organisation of the workshop. He then thanked the participants for their presence and also for their active implication in the various debates.
Finally, he promised that Africa Peace will make all its possible, in connection with the Secretariat of the NEPAD and the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Abidjan - Ivory Coast, to coordinate the efforts of all the participants in order to make follow-up of this workshop a sustainable means of West African Youth participation in popularization, the implementation and the follow-up of the New Partnership of Africa's Development - NEPAD.
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