UNOAU attends Methodology and Planning Workshop on the AUPSC-mandated Study on ‘Youth, Migration, Peace and Security in Africa, including the situation of young African Refugees’
From 25 to 27 July, UNOAU attended a Methodology and Planning Workshop on the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC)-mandated study on ‘Youth, Migration, Peace and Security in Africa, including the situation of young African Refugees’ held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The AU’s Youth for Peace Africa Program organised the workshop in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). On 3 March 2022, at its 1067th meeting, the AU PSC had previously requested, among other things, that the continental study should propose actionable policies to safeguard youth from the adverse impacts of illegal migration and its underlying factors, while taking into consideration the COVID-19 implications for migration. The study responds to the need to explore solutions to the African ‘brain drain’ and to foster conditions of peace and stability in Africa, allowing young African refugees to return to their countries of origin and make valuable contributions to reconstruction and development efforts in their own countries.
The workshop was attended by various AU Departments, Organs, and Agencies, including Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs); the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development; the Office of the Youth Envoy; the Youth Division; and the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (CARIM). Other participants included the Ambassador of Switzerland to the AU, Pietro Mona; Africa-based Universities and Research Institutions; Youth Representatives; civil society organizations; the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the World Food Programme (WFP); and UNOAU.
Participants discussed the key thrusts and elements of the proposed study highlighting the nexus between migration and the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS)Agenda. They further determined the scope, expectations, as well as limitations of the study; and debated the applicable methodological approaches with a view to identifying the best methodology for the scope of the study.