The African Union has deployed and onboarded the 12th cohort of Youth Volunteers. The 45 Young Professionals from 23 countries across the five regions of the continent, will serve as volunteers in various African Union Commission Departments and in government offices and ministries of African Member states for a period of 12 months.
Implemented by the African Union Commission’s directorate of Women, Gender, and Youth, the African Union Youth Volunteers Corps (AUYVC) is a continental development programme that recruits and works with young people to foster volunteerism and to deepen the status of young people as key actors in the continent’s development and transformation. The programme provides opportunities to young Africans to work and gain crucial professional experience, social competence, international exposure and leadership skills, allowing them to meaningfully contribute to achieving an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa.
Since its launch in 2010, the program has successfully recruited, trained, and deployed over 1,000 young professionals from across Africa and the Diaspora. As a youth development and empowerment program, the AUYVC is an integral part of the 1 Million Next Level Initiative, which aims to reach 300 million young Africans by 2030 with concrete opportunities in five priority areas – Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Engagement, and Health and Wellbeing (4Es + H).
Africa boasts the youngest population globally with more than 400 million young people aged between the ages of 15 to 35 years. With such a demographic, it is paramount that the continent harnesses the potential of its youth. Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 affirms that the Africa We Want is “An Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children”. AU-YVC devotes itself to producing a generation of African leaders, willing to serve their continent and its people, knowledgeable of African dynamics, and courageous to take charge and challenge themselves on a daring adventure of building themselves and their continent through service.
