The Central Working Committee (CWC) of Africa’s biggest youth event, The Future Awards Africa (TFAA) has officially launched the media campaign for the 2015 edition – which celebrates 10 years of inspiring Africa. The campaign is themed #AfricaNeedsYou, and is underlined by a tour of 100 cities across Africa.
“10 years, of inspiring millions of Africa’s youth across 20 countries is a huge deal,” says Ohimai Atafo who is chair of the CWC. “But in this case, it’s not just a celebration, it’s a reload. The #AfricaRising narrative is true in many respects, but there is so much work to be done. Our 10th anniversary will be a platform to galvanise stakeholders in Young Africa – we have so much to do, so many millions of young Africans yet unreached. That’s why we are doing this tour. Because #AfricaNeedsYou.”
The tour, which kicked off in October, has now visited Kano, Banjul, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Enugu, Abuja and Lagos. Next on the schedule are a number of cities across the continent including Johannesburg, Nairobi and Accra.
“As Africa’s biggest youth platform, we have a rare capacity to spotlight the weight of the challenges that still face young people across major issues like education and entrepreneurship to existential challenges including erosion, malaria and preventable illness,” says Mohamed Diaby who is a CWC member based in Abidjan. “It is even more important to spotlight the anecdotal trend lines of these challenges as the world has launched the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Beyond just the awards on the stage, we are going around Africa finding stories that both spotlight the incredible challenges, as well as those that show pathways to dealing these challenges.”
According to Bukonla Adebakin, Project Manager for The Future Project, after each visit, #TFAAHubs will be set up in each city - in conjunction with local organisations - to ensure that the issues highlighted are engaged and that there is a community of young people committed to the TFAA vision who will lead efforts to solve problems and track stories of change and transformation.
Hubs have already been set up in Enugu with the Access to Good Health Initiative, Lagos with Street to School, Abuja with the Global Shapers, Kano with the Africa Focus for Youth Development, Port Harcourt with the Africa Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation, Ibadan with the One Life Foundation and Banjul with the National Youth Council, Gambia.
The one year Africa tour will end in October 2016. 10 past winners of the awards will be unveiled next week as ambassadors to drive this message and this imperative.
Says Atafo: “The challenge is simple really: if Africa is truly rising and GDPs growing, then why are so many young Africans desperately leaving Africa?”
The Future Awards Africa 2015 is powered by RED and held in partnership with the Ford Foundation, Microsoft, the US Consulate, the Canadian High Commission Nigeria and the Tony Elumelu Foundation. The event will be hosted in Lagos on Sunday, 6 December, 2015.
For more information, visit thefutureafrica.com/awards.
About The Future Project
The Future Project has a simple mandate - to build empowered citizens across Africa, through inclusive) enterprise and (active) citizenship. This focus on Human Capital Development is informed by our value proposition: Africa’s growth needs a generation of young people who are gainfully employed and able to demand better leadership.
No comments:
Post a Comment