The EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS last week inaugurated the second cohort of the Youth Sounding Board (YSB) Nigeria, following the completion of the tenure of the pioneer cohort. The current group, like the previous one, comprises 25 young people of diverse backgrounds, drawn from across the country. Through the YSB Nigeria serves as a platform for young people to help in shaping the policies and programmes of the EU in Nigeria, to reflect youths’ perspectives.

Inaugurating the board, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, explained that through the YSB initiative, the EU aims to promote active engagement and exchanges between young people and decision-makers. According to him, the YSB Nigeria has been advising the EU Delegation on youth participation and empowerment across a broad range of priorities, including employment, education, environment and climate change, human rights and democracy, peace and security, digitalisation, technology, gender, and social inclusion.

“Sometimes, the EU is asked what its interest, purpose, and objective are in its cooperation with Nigeria. Our main interest is to help this country build a stable, united, prosperous, and sustainable future. This is also in our interest,” Ambassador Mignot said.

Describing young people as the future, he noted that inter-generational gap was getting more pronounced because of changes brought by technology and other societal dynamics, adding that “there are, perhaps, more differences between how young people are living their formative years compared to older generations.”

According to him, the YSB was created to influence the EU Delegation’s interventions and impact on local communities across Nigeria. “Only young people know what other young people expect, need, and yearn for. That is why the voice of young people is so important,” he stated.

The 25 remarkable young Nigerians were selected from a pool of over 3,000 who applied to serve on the new board, after three rounds of rigorous selection procedures that started in May.

“Each of these 25 young people has a strong passion for youth inclusion and I am very hopeful that over the course of their tenure as members of the Youth Sounding Board, they will build on the results achieved by the first cohort and make their own mark in ensuring that the European Union's interventions are increasingly youth-inclusive.”