The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has held an engagement with members of the Youth Sounding Board (YSB) to discuss the Embassy’s priority areas for the year and explore avenues for youth-focused collaboration in advancing Dutch and European Union objectives in Ghana.
The engagement forms part of the EU’s broader Africa–EU agenda, which seeks to strengthen youth participation in EU external action. Members of the Youth Sounding Board, selected under the Team Europe approach, provide technical and advisory input to ensure that EU programmes reflect youth perspectives and local realities.
The Youth Sounding Board advises the European Commissioner and the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) on youth participation and empowerment across key policy areas, including climate and energy, digitalisation, gender equality, human development, migration, peace and governance, and sustainable growth and jobs.
Between 2021 and 2023, YSB members contributed to the co-creation of the EU Youth Action Plan in External Action, producing a report titled “Meaningful Inclusion of Youth: A Promising Future”, which informed the Plan’s adoption in 2022. The group has also undertaken thematic projects on diversity and inclusion, intergenerational dialogue, leadership, and youth outreach, with outcomes feeding into EU youth-focused programming.
This initiative is very vital for Africa-EU relations since the continent holds the largest youth population in the world, highlighting the collaboration as one the seeks to hone Ghana’s future.
Related Posts
