The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) will further enhance its partnership with the Pan African Parliament in a bid to ensure that significant numbers of youths on the continent are engaged in efforts to achieve ‘zero hunger.’ In July 2017, (FAO) launched its Global Internship, Volunteers and Fellows Programmes (IVF) to mobilize youth to achieve Zero Hunger.
The Deputy-Director, Partnerships and South-South Cooperation Division at FAO Ms Kazumi Ikeda-Larhed says “given their legislative, budgetary and oversight responsibilities, the PAP members have a special role to play in ensuring that youth-focused policies and programmes are implemented in an inclusive manner.” FAO says although the youth population in Africa is rapidly growing, the continent has not yet efficiently harnessed the youth dividends. Lack of meaningful opportunities are attributed to the reasons African youth continue to migrate from rural to urban areas , as well as internationally where they often become refugees.
Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Jacqueline Amongin says the proposal to leverage FAO’s IVF Programmes to establish a Pan-African Platform for Youth Engagement, through which African youth can be more effectively and systematically mobilised as agents of change, contributing towards improving food security and nutrition in Africa has come at a crucial time and must be embraced and supported by all stakeholders.
“We call upon all youth in the continent to ensure that this programme does not become a missed opportunity. It is through the efforts of the youth that the continent will realise zero hunger within a short time,” Hon. Amongin says.