YLDP Alumni-Young and Keen Development Workshop

YOUNG AND KEEN!

The Zambian youth have played a major role for the change of power in Zambia in August 2021. A politically interested youth is a godsend for further democratisation of a political culture and we as FES want to contribute to such a positive development. With our Young Leadership Development Programme (YLDP), we are already providing a vibrant learning opportunity for the politically engaged youth in Zambia. We now want to introduce a new youth forum which brings together the alumni from the past YLDP years for conducting political debates on major political issues.

The participants come from different sending agencies which include political parties, such as UPND, PF, and MMD as well as from a variety of civil society organizations, such as Young Women in Action (YWA), Girls Gone Political (GGP), and the Centre for Young Leaders in Africa (CYLA). In addition, a number of participants come from trade unions, such as the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ), the Zambian Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), and lastly the Mineworker´s Union of Zambia (MUZ). 

The aim of the »YOUNG & KEEN«  is to train alumni practically to participate in and conduct political debates. Both the Master of Ceremony/Moderators and the panellists are to be chosen from the ranks of the alumni, however, external experts can be invited to give keynote speeches on special topics. The selection of issues to be discussed and debated shall be conducted in consultation with the FES in order to maintain a connection to social democratic values of the foundation and to maintain an orientation towards the objectives of our work in Zambia.

This Young and Keen activity was graced by the presence of the Head of the department responsible for Churches, Political Foundations, Promotion of social structures, Religion and development, under the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in Germany, Mr. Michael Plesch. A key presentation on debating skills was given by Mwila Chriseddy Bwanga , this was a very active segment of the activity.