A Case of RCE Minna Youth Empowerment Model by Ibrahim Akibu Jaafaru
1. EMPOWERING AND MOBLISING YOUTH TOWARDS
ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A CASE OF
RCE MINNA YOUTH EMPOWERMENT MODEL
6TH AFRICAN RCE CONFERENCE
NAIROBI, KENYA
24TH-25TH AUGUST, 2016
BY
Ibrahim Akibu Ja’afaru
Youth Coordinator
RCE Minna, Nigeria
2. RCE Minna like any other RCE across the world is
founded to mobilize formal and non-formal
sectors in all nations to deliver the ESD four (4)
major thrust that bothered on the promotion and
improvement of basic education, Reorienting
existing education at all levels to address
sustainable development issues, Developing
public understanding and awareness of
sustainability, and training and retraining.
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3. • Name: Minna
• Location: North Central Nig.
• Position: Capital city of Niger State.
• LGA: Chanchaga LGA.
• Language: Gwari, Nupe and Hausa.
• Estimated Population: 304,113 in 2007
• Economy: Farming, cattle rearing,
• Traditional industries, and civil service.
• Education: Minna is the sit of Fed. Uni.
• Of Technology, State College of
• Education etc.
• Coordinates: 9° 36′ 50″ N, 6° 33′ 25″ E
• Distance to Abuja: About 150km
Fig1: Map Of Minna Showing some selected Features
Source: Huda-tech Computer Institute, 2013.
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4. 4
EMPOWERING AND MOBLISING YOUTH
TOWARDS ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: A CASE OF RCE MINNA
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT MODE
5. “……..Young people must be included from birth. A
society that cuts from youth servers its life line”
Kofi Anan
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6. Youths have been described as the backbone of
any nation. Often times, they are always
energetic, willing and ready to display their
prowess at any given opportunity.
Several mentors will always want to have a
youth as their mentee. Therefore, when a youth
gets the desired support and mentorship,
he/she performs wonderfully well.
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7. RCE Minna is playing a major role in
empowering and moblizing young people to be
part of action on ESD.
The success stories are numerous, but the
following stands out:
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8. Name: Buliameen Oladayor
Age: 29
Qualification: B. Tech. URP
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Title: CEO Demarine Ltd
Number of staff: 25
Location: Minna
Others:
2015 Mendale Washignton Fellow
Youth Member RCE Minna, Nigeria
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10. Name: Rukayya Bahago
Age: 26
Qualification:
-B. Tech. Geograpy and Remote Sensing
-M. Tech Geograpy and Remote Sensing (In view)
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Title: CEO Purple Plate
Number of staff: 20
Location: Minna
Others:
Coordinator RCE Minna School Clubs
Princess of Minna Royal Kingdom
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12. Name: Isah Ibn Mohammed
Age: 27
Qualification:
-B. Sc. Political Science
-M. Sc. . Political Science (In view)
Occupation: Social Entrepreneur
Title:CEO African Centre for Extra-curricular
Research And Development (ACERAD)
Number of staff: 10
Location: Minna
Others:
Volunteer RCE Minna Youth Network
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14. Name: Nana-Hauwa Ize Sule
Age: 21
Qualification:
-B. Tech. Estate Management (in view)
Occupation: Student/Writer
Book Title: What Will be Will Be
Location: Minna
Others:
Volunteer RCE Minna Youth Network
2015 YUA Meet Fellow
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18. 3.1 WHY THE 1ST AFRICAN RCE YOUTH VIRTUAL
CONFERENCE
African countries over dependence on mono-
economy.
Youths tends to be majorly affected, hence the
high rate of youth unemployment.
Little economic perspective, Incoherent youth
programmes and little funding by government.
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19. To address this, the Regional Centres of
Expertise (RCE) Minna, Nigeria and Grand
Rapids, Michigan, USA brought together young
people and panelist to discuss ways of
addressing youth unemployment and climate
change through TVET, entrepreneurship, and
lifelong learning in the various regions of
Africa.
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3.1 WHY THE 1ST AFRICAN RCE YOUTH CONFERENCE
21. 3.3 MAJOR OUTCOME OF THE CONFERENCE
That both youth unemployment and Climate Change are
global challenge, hence, the need for Lifelong Learning to
transform our society.
That Entrepreneurship training and mentoring should be
given more priority in our learning process to solve the
problem of unemployment in Africa and the world at
large.
That networking, education (both formal, non-formal
and informal) and sharing ideas is vital to the
development of African youth across all sectors.
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22. That political will of governments play a major role in
combating the effect of climate change and youth
restiveness across the world.
That moving forward, the conference will be sustained
annually as a vital tool for best practice sharing on
Lifelong Learning.
That the youth, both at regional and local levels, be
exposed to the rudiments of social, economic and
environmental sustainability for their survival.
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3.3 MAJOR OUTCOME OF THE CONFERENCE
25. Youth, Education and SDG 4.7
Youth-led and Youth-driven
In order to build more peaceful and sustainable societies we
recognize that role of youth is a critical factor that will help us
achieve positive transformation in our societies, and largely the
world.
SDG 4.7
“By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and
skills needed to promote sustainable development, including,
among others, through education for sustainable development
and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality,
promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global
citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s
contribution to sustainable development.”
26. The Campus Ambassadors Project
(Key Objectives)
Nurture an atmosphere for intercultural learning,
understanding and respect for all diversities
Foster intercultural learning and understanding
through innovative activities through the medium of
dialogue
Undertake research on youth perspectives on cultural
diversity and provide inputs into policy processes on
youth and intercultural understanding
Compile best practices on youth engagement on
intercultural in higher education and scale up actions
on upstream perspectives.
27. International Mandates
Campus Ambassador Programme responds to and contributes to the global
mandates on peace sustainable development, global citizenship and
education:
Goal 4 of Agenda 2030 which seeks to “Ensure inclusive and equitable
quality education and lifelong learning for all”. The programme fits within the
mandate of SDG Target 4.7
International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022) to To
give students a sense of ownership in the design and implementation of the
inter and intra campus activities.
Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (2015-
2019), with reference to priority areas of Policy, Whole Institution Approach
and Youth.
UNESCO Operational Strategy on youth (2014-2021) with respect to young
women and men engaging as active citizens towards democratic
consolidation, sustainable communities and peace.
28. Activities
1. Identification of institutes of Higher Education from each of
the six United Nations Region
2. Selection of Campus Ambassadors and co designing of
activities
3. E mapping of resources on intercultural dialogue
4. Identification of Peer Network
5. Development of Student led toolkit on Intercultural Dialogue
6. Development of Teachers Orientation Module on
Intercultural Dialogue
7. Research on Intercultural understanding amongst the youth
with special focus on Discursive Violence
8. Campus Outreach Challenges- action projects
29. Contact
For more details please contact:
Ms. Deepika Joon
Programme Officer
UNESCO MGIEP
d.joon@unesco.org
Mr. Simon Kuany Kiir Kuany
Associate Project Officer
UNESCO MGIEP
s.kuany@unesco.org
Mr. Sajid Sheikh
Programme Coordinator
UNESCO MGIEP
s.sheikh@unesco.org
30. MOVING FORWARD
We are hopeful that the conference will become
an annual event. Outcomes of the conference
could then be scaled up and discussed in the
upcoming regional and global RCE conferences in
order to prepare a roadmap for youth
involvement in Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) and as a major push for the
Global Action Plan (GAP) and the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
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