The African Union Commission’s Youth Development Division within the Women, Gender and Youth Directorate, holds engaging weekly virtual conversations to facilitate engagements between African youth and various stakeholders including duty bearers, peers, and those in an array of thematic disciplines.
The Youth Division uses the MOCA Youth Engagement Framework to take targeted action to position and empower young people as problem solvers and leaders in their respective communities.
MOCA stands for Mobilization, Orientation, Conversations, and Activation.
The approach is that mobilizing a critical mass of young people, and orienting them through leadership and exchange programs such as the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps Program, as well as enabling and encouraging them to take part in ongoing discourse through online and offline conversations to solve real challenges will undoubtedly result inactivated and engaged youth.
It is within this background that the Youth Division launches YAPOS Talks – a variation of the conversation series – which is led by the 11th cohort of the AUYVCs. The first conversation was held on Friday 2nd April and under the theme “What’s Next For AUYVC: Leveraging Your Experience For Future Opportunities” and was a moderated conversation with former AUYVs as panelists. The second edition of YAPOS Talks was held on 15th April under the theme “Engaging Communities Online: Arts and Media As A Tool For Agency” with African artists; Joeboy, Karun, and Oxlade. All conversations are available on the AU Youth Program Youtube channel.
The principal objectives of the conversation series are:
-
To actualize the Youth Division’s MOCA Youth Engagement Framework;
-
To catalyze African youth to move from rhetoric to offline action through the exploration of discussions ranging from high-level policy to grassroots action to unpacking the theme of the year.