The 3rd East African Community University Students’ Debate 2014 is scheduled to be held on September 4-5, 2014, in Nairobi, Kenya.
The debate which brings together students from various Universities and institutions of higher learning from the EAC region is an important avenue for sharing information, exchange of ideas and promoting discourse and sensitization.
Towards this end, the EAC in collaboration with the GiZ-EAC Programme, is holding a three-day preparatory meeting (July 28-30, 2014) in Nairobi to map out the strategies for the forthcoming debate. The meeting was opened yesterday by the Deputy Secretary General of the EAC, Mr. Charles Njoroge.
In his remarks, the Deputy Secretary General urged the youth to continue to be advocates championing the tenets of integration. Mr. Njoroge commended the EAC Youth Ambassadors Platform for the noble work of spearheading and popularizing EAC integration within the university community.
‘I also want to assure you that EAC is committed to strengthening the networks the Platform has created with University administrations over time as well as the EAC Youth Clubs in fulfillment of the principal of participation and involvement of all segments of the society in the integration agenda’, he said.
The Deputy Secretary General maintained that the Regional Economic Community was geared towards mobilizing sustainable resources for the Nyerere Centre for Peace and Research.
The meeting is evaluating the impact of sensitization programmes that have been undertaken from the period February – June 2014. It is also hopes to validate the lessons and challenges learnt by the Platform.
According to the Principal Political Affairs Officer at the EAC, Isabelle Waffubwa, the opportunity affords the EAC an opportunity to rethink, refocus where necessary, and evaluate the performance as well as the impact on targeted groups.
The Chair of the EAC Youth Ambassadors, Ms. Effie Owour lauded the Members of the Platform for their commitment and said that their contribution towards the integration progress was already bearing fruit.
The GiZ-EAC Junior Advisor on Peace and Security in the EAC, Ms. Venelina Gancheva, affirmed the Organization’s commitment to assisting the region realize full integration.
“To date, the Youth Ambassadors have been engaged in close to 30 sensitisation activities and over 6000 stakeholders have been targeted”, Ms. Gancheva remarked.
The University Debate was mooted by the EAC under the Nyerere Centre for Peace Research. The debate among other things envisages the full participation of the young people in dialogue as well as in the exchange of ideas on concrete issues that have impact.
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