As part of the follow-up programme that resulted from the first Africa-Europe Youth Summit (Lisbon, 2007), five Sub-Regional Seminars were developed between 2009 and 2012, organised by the North-South Centre in cooperation with the Pan African Youth Union, hosted by different National Youth Councils, according to the region.

These seminars were aimed towards National Youth Councils leaders’ and national representatives of International Youth Organisations in the countries of each sub-region of Africa.

The objectives of this series of seminars were to bring together State actors and youth organisations to reflect on the developments of national and local youth policies in Africa; to promote the African Youth Charter and its ratification and implementation; to strengthen the capacity of State and non-State actors to develop integrated youth policies using co-management principles; and to strengthen the regional integration of youth organisations and networks in the five building blocks of the African Union.

The first Sub-Regional Seminar, focused on the West Africa region, was organised within the framework of the first African University, in Cape Verde, in June 2009.

The second seminar, on the East Africa region, took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 2009, after the second meeting of the Monitoring Group of the Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation.

The third seminar, focused on the Southern Africa region, was organised in Luanda, Angola, in March 2010. In view of the third Summit of Heads of State from Africa and Europe, participants presented a final declaration (Declaration of Luanda) to the Government of Angola, appealing for the government’s support to the strengthening of youth policies in the region and the implementation of the African Youth Charter.

The fourth seminar, focused on the region of Central Africa, took place in Libreville, Gabon, in March 2011. The participants drafted the Declaration of Libreville with recommendations to submit to the to the next Summit of Heads of State of the African Union in July 2011; addressing the need of empowering African youth for sustainable development, implementing national youth policies in Central African States, and promoting of the African Youth Charter.

The fifth and last seminar, on the North Africa region, was organised in Hammamet, December 2011, in the framework of a pilot experience for the Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship.

An institutional follow-up meeting of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit held in 2007 took place on 28-29 April 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal. This meeting brought together all the partners and stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the new Africa-Europe Cooperation Programme.

The main aim of the meeting was to update on the developments on the Africa Europe Cooperation in the field of youth since the Youth Summit held in December 2007 and to reflect and further strategise the ongoing implementation of the Youth Declaration and the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership.

The meeting was organised by the North-South Centre and the Portuguese National Youth Council, in partnership with the the European Youth Forum and the Pan African Youth Union.

Report of the Institutional Follow-Up Meeting of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit – DRAFT

A second institutional meeting took place on 26 May 2012 in Braga, Portugal, in the framework of Braga 2012 European Youth Capital.

This meeting brought together youth leaders and institutional representatives from Africa and Europe, and from the African Youth Diaspora living in Europe, in order to share and articulate their actions on the development of the Africa-Europe youth dialogue and cooperation framework, looking at the recommendations resulting from the Africa-Europe Youth Summits and the conclusions and action Plan 2012-15 established by the Africa-Europe Youth Leaders meeting, held in Addis Ababa in April 2011, particularly the implementation of the Africa-Europe Youth Platform.

The “Youth Leaders Meeting on Youth Policies in the Context of the Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation” took place in Addis Ababa on 10-13 April 2011, immediately after the African Youth Forum scheduled in the context of the 11th Summit of the AU Heads of States.

The meeting was organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, together with the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the Pan-African Youth Union (PYU), and the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe (ADYNE).

It was discussed and agreed on a common action plan for the development of the Africa-Europe Youth dialogue and cooperation for the period of 2012-2015, as well as the establishment of the Africa Europe Youth Platform, with the specific aim to prepare/coordinate, monitor, implement, evaluate and give a follow up to the Africa-Europe Youth cooperation.