Three Young Zimbabweans To Meet Obama
The three young Zimbabweans; Cleopatra Ndlovu, Masimba Nyamanhindi and Sydney Chisi, who were active in the Zimbabwean civil society covering a wide range of issues including civic education, youth empowerment, women’s rights, and civic activism will next week travel to the United States of America, along with over 100 other young leaders from around
Africa, for the US President’s Forum with Young African Leaders.
Ndlovu was the Executive Director of Women in Politics Support Unit before she left last year to work on other community initiatives. Nyamhindi is in the leadership of Students Solidarity Trust. Chisi is the spokesperson for Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and the director of Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe (YIDEZ) who, among their projects, run a Youth Leadership Academy.
President Obama will host the President’s Forum with Young African Leaders- drawing 120 youth from Africa. It will take place in Washington, from August 3rd to 5th.
The President’s Forum with Young African Leaders builds on the commitments President Obama made during his historic visit to Ghana in July 2009.
“This is our attempt to see the future of Africa through the eyes of young Africans. Rather than our bringing people here and explaining to them that we think they need to do A, B, or C; we’re bringing them here so that they can describe for us their vision of the future of their country, their region and their continent. That then will give us ideas about how we can support the sort of progressive approach to governance, economic opportunity and social development. The education part of this is really going to be the Africans to the Americans,”
says Bruce Wharton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa.
During the three day forum, Americans and Africans will learn from each other, work together to develop innovative solutions to regional challenges, and create strategies for seizing opportunities in governance, economic opportunity, and youth empowerment.
The President’s Forum with Young African Leaders presents the U.S. government and American friends of Africa with an opportunity to deepen and broaden our understanding of the trajectories of African societies, and to reflect on how the next generation are building their communities’ and their nations’ futures – just as their predecessors did in the era of independence from colonial rule.
In addition to the town hall meeting with the President, the forum will include small-group discussions on topics such as transparency and accountability, job creation and entrepreneurship, rights advocacy, and the use of technology to empower individuals and communities. African participants will have an opportunity to meet with grassroots service organizations to share experiences and strategies.
