Launch of Africa Summer School 2063 activities at the Center for Civic Education at El Gezira island

CAIRO - 22 December 2018: The first activities of Pan Africa School 2063, implemented by the Central Administration of the Parliament and Civic Education - the African Youth Bureau at the Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with the Pan African Youth Union and in partnership with the African Graduate School as an academic artner - were launched on Friday.

The activities were launched in the presence of Dr. Namira Negm, Legal Adviser of the African Union and Ms. Dina Fouad, Undersecretary of the Ministry and President of the Central Administration of the Parliament and Civic Education, as well as a group of leaders from the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports and leaders from the Pan African Youth Union in the Conference Room at the Center for Civic Education at El Gezira island with the participation of 100 students from different countries.

It is planned to hold the activities of the school from today until the end of the current month.


Launch of Africa Summer School 2063 activities at the Center for Civic Education at El Gezira island - Press Photo

The activities of the first day of Pan Africa School 2063 began with the national anthem of the Arab Republic of Egypt and that of the African Union. Mr. Khalid Fawzi, Youth Specialist in Youth Department, Ministry of Youth and Sports, said: "Today, the fourth edition of the African Awareness Program has been launched that goes hand in hand with Pan Africa Summer School, implemented by the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports within the framework of a fruitful cooperation between the Central Administration of the Parliament and Civic Education and the African Youth Bureau at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, under the auspices of the African Union from 20 to 30 December. Mr. Fawzi added : "The strength of the program lies in the fact that it is the first school presenting informal education to train young Egyptians and Africans, while Egypt assumes the presidency of the African Union 2019; noting that the School addresses a number of African issues among young people in the form of interactive learning. "

Mr. Hassan Ghazali, General Coordinator and Founder of the African Youth Bureau and Member of the African Cultures Committee of the Supreme Council for Culture, hailed the role of Ambassador Namira Negm, one of the leaders of great stature in Africa in general and in Egypt in particular to hold one of the most important posts in the African Union representing the first woman of North Africa and the first Egyptian woman to hold the post of legal adviser to the African Union. Mr. Ghazali said that he was following her work since she was ambassador of Egypt and also the momentum she had achieved, as well as her prominent role in the field of Africa. That's what makes her worthy of this post. She is an inspiring model for everyone. He added that Egypt's role in the black continent, under President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi's directives, aimed at strengthening Egyptian-African relations, as well as the role of the Ministry of Youth and Sports that strives to converge ideas and cultures in the continent.


Launch of Africa Summer School 2063 activities at the Center for Civic Education at El Gezira island - Press Photo

From her side, Ambassador Namira Negm, Legal Adviser of the African Union, said at the beginning of her statement, during the first session of the activities of the first day of PanAfrica School 2063: "I would first like to thank the organizers of the Pan African School for inviting me. I welcome you all at the beginning of the program. I will begin my speech by sharing my personal experience with young people. A person begins his life with realizing hopes and aspirations from his young age. My ambition was to become ambassador of Egypt to represent my country honorably. "

She added that she had graduated from Ain Shams University - Law School in August 1992 and that same year she had passed the exams of the Egyptian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in October 1992, and by God’s grace she had been able to pass the stages of the selection process to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993 as a Diplomatic Attaché. She then received training for one year at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she first worked in the illegal sector and then in the legal sector, which is her sphere of competence. She went on to study abroad and obtained a master's degree and doctorate from the United Kingdom in The Hague, The Netherlands.

She has served as legal adviser of the Egyptian Delegation to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador of Egypt to Rwanda and then Legal Adviser of the African Union representing the first woman of North Africa and the first Egyptian woman to hold this position. In terms of age, she is also the youngest to have held this post. The Ambassador also added: "The Pan African School is a pilot experiment and it will be a great success in the context of cultural exchanges between Egypt and African countries. This School will enable young Africans to become acquainted with the potentials of Egypt and will enable young Egyptians to become acquainted with the resources that Africa can offer and with the potentials of the African continent. "

She also explained that the cooperation between Egypt and the AU had existed for a long time and that Egypt's return to the context of Africa and the African Union would benefit both parties, as many initiatives could be held through the AU with the Egyptian government for the benefit of the African continent. With regard to the reform of the the African Union Organization, Egypt will play an important role: the Egyptian Government would benefit the African Union by sharing its expertise in various policy areas, as well as existing structures and ways of holding initiatives in various fields, including the field of trade in which Egypt plays a pioneering role, the field of international law, and in the field of health and education.


Launch of Africa Summer School 2063 activities at the Center for Civic Education at El Gezira island - Press Photo

The most prominent Egyptian diplomats, academicians and specialists from different African countries participate in the activities of Pan Africa Summer School 2063, with the participation of the Executive Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism Program, as well as (100) Egyptian and African students. The selection process was carried out in three stages, taking into account the geographical, educational, institutional, cultural, social, professional and sexual diversity as well as the representation of various ages.

The Pan Africa Summer School is one of the projects of the 4th edition of the African Awareness Program. It is the first interactive school to train young leaders from different governorates in the Arab Republic of Egypt and non-Egyptians young Africans. The school raises issues addressing many intellectual debates among young people in the following areas: (Political Science, Economics, Anthropology, History, Geography, Institutional Reform, Peace and Security, Organs of the AU, Personal Capacity Building, Natural Resources and Climate.)

This school is the first concrete implementation of the recommendations regarding the African matter of World Youth Forum held in Sharm el-Sheikh, the most important of which is the declaration of Aswan as the capital of the African Youth 2019 and in parallel with ongoing preparations for Egypt’s presidency of the African Union for 2019. The vision and goals of the Pan Africa Summer School are based on three levels: Egypt's Vision 2030 at a national level, the African Union Agenda 2063 at a continental level and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 at an international level. The School is addressing, for the first time, a number of African issues with young people in an educational and interactive form. It is an important step that the State strives to invest to highlight its historical and strategic status and activate its foreign policy in favor of urgent African issues.