On November 1 2024, the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) commemorated Africa Youth Day with an X Spaces Conversation. The theme of the conversation was ‘Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century – The Role of African Youths in Accelerating Peacebuilding’ in alignment with the African Union (AU)’s theme for the year 2024. This event was held in celebration of Africa’s young people and the important role they play in advancing peacebuilding, social cohesion, and transitional justice processes across Africa.

The conversation began with a creative spoken word performance from Valentine Ogunaka, an award-winning Nigerian spoken word artist and this set the pace of the rest of the discussion which explored the role of young people in promoting peacebuilding and transitional justice. The speakers dissected various sub-sets of the theme by bringing different perspectives and insights to the conversation. Some of the themes explored during the conversation include:

1. Peacebuilding Education and African Youth: The importance of integrating peacebuilding education into formal and informal education structures to prepare Africa’s young people for active participation in peacebuilding.
2. Youth Empowerment: Navigating the different approaches to empowering young people with the skills, education, and resources needed to actively participate in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes.

1. Youth Creativity for Peacebuilding: Promoting the creative ways young people are employing across the continent in promoting peace and justice.
2. Amplifying Youth Voices in Transitional Justice: Accentuating the contributions of young people to peacebuilding and the need for their active participation in promoting transitional justice in Africa.
3. Promoting Youth Dialogue on Peacebuilding Education: Creating an avenue to foster dialogue and interaction among young people and youth groups on the role of education in peacebuilding.

 

Below, is the line-up of speakers that joined ATJLF for the ‘Spaces’ conversation:

• Aderomola Adeola (PhD) is a lawyer with expertise in public international law and with specific interest in human rights, migration governance and technology. She holds a Masters from the Harvard Law School.
• Steven Harageib is a passionate youth development practitioner and a dedicated advocate for transitional justice and mental health.
• Usani Odum is the Project Officer for the Initiative of Transitional Justice in Africa (ITJA), at the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• Stephany Boateng is an international development expert who is passionate about human rights and social justice. She is currently the Growth and Mobilisation Coordinator at Amnesty International Ghana.