2022 PAN AFRICA YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

admin January 18, 2022

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Apply for the 2022 Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program

DEADLINE: March 11, 2022

Purpose

The Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program began in FY 2013 and directly supports the U.S. foreign policy goal of youth empowerment and development by equipping exchange participants with the knowledge and skills to become active and responsible members of their communities.

In addition to nurturing young leaders, the program also supports the Department’s goal of fostering regional cooperation on the African continent. The program offers secondary school youth (ages 15-18) and a small number of adult educators from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa the opportunity to engage in intensive, thematic exchanges in the United States focused on civic education, community service, and youth leadership development. Subthemes that explore these overarching themes should be added, such as entrepreneurship, the environment, climate change resiliency, food security, media literacy (including social media), and/or public health. The applicant should present a program plan that allows the participants to thoroughly explore civic life in the United States in a creative, memorable, hands-on way.

Youth Leadership Programs offer an examination of democratic principles within U.S civil society and provide leadership development training. Participants should engage in workshops on leadership and service, community site visits related to the program themes and subthemes, interactive training, presentations, visits to high schools, local cultural activities, and other activities designed to achieve the program’s stated goals, while living with American families for a significant period of the exchange. Additional opportunities for participants to interact meaningfully with their American peers must be included. Follow-on activities with the participants are an integral part of the program, as the students apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired by planning and carrying out service projects in their home communities.

The program goals are to:

1) Promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Sub-Saharan Africa;

2) Prepare African youth leaders to become responsible citizens and contributing members of their communities; and

3) Foster relationships among African and American youth from different ethnic, religious, and national groups.

The program objectives are for participants to:

1) Demonstrate a better understanding of the elements of a participatory democracy as practiced in the United States;

2) Demonstrate critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills; and

3) Demonstrate skill at developing project ideas and planning a course of action to bring follow-on projects to fruition.

The primary program themes are listed below:

1) Civic Education (citizen participation, grassroots democracy and rule of law);

2) Community Service (social/corporate responsibility, volunteerism, and philanthropy);

3) Respect for Diversity (including ethnicity, race, gender, religion, geographic location, socio-economic status, and disabilities); and