Events

COVID-19 Management: Engaging Africa’s Youths on Good Governance Practices and Transparency

June 4, 2021

Online

Do you believe that citizens play “a critical role in advocating and helping to make public institutions more transparent, accountable and effective, and contributing innovative solutions to complex development challenges.”

Are you looking for guidance and concrete examples on how youth are successfully engaging in Africa?

Join our panel discussion for a conversation about ways Africa’s young people can demand good governance practices and transparency in the fight against COVID-19 (coronavirus). You will have the opportunity to hear from experts and youth leaders, ask questions, and be inspired by the stories they will share.

BACKGROUND
AGENDA
SPEAKERS

Organized by World Bank teams in Sub-Saharan Africa, this will be an opportunity to have a seat at the table when challenges affecting youth are being discussed, and to hear from experts and youth leaders, ask questions, and be inspired by the stories they will share.
To empower others, some youth leaders will share successful experiences of youth-driven organizations in the establishment of transparency and accountability mechanisms. This roundtable will call on Africa’s youth to engage as citizens in the context of COVID-19 response management. A medical doctor will also be present to deliver key messages around vaccines and conspiracy theories.
The event will be moderated by two youth leaders:
Dimpho Lekgeu, Blog4Dev winner, Community manager at Youth Lab, South Africa
Mountaga Keita, Founder & CEO of Tulip Industries, République de Guinée
This event is part of the regional events leading up to the World Bank Youth Summit 2021 to be held June 9-10, 2021, under the theme “Resilient Recovery for People and Planet.”
“The economic hardship, loss of life, and global human suffering seen at an unprecedented level as a result of COVID-19 has highlighted the deficiencies in our society and ignited a call to action that is practical, inclusive, and sustainable.”
About the series
With the support of the World Bank, the Youth Transforming Africa Network and the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA) are partnering to organize monthly roundtables on development topics. Their purpose is to allow dialogue among Africa’s youth, and prepare some youth-grown solutions to influence policymaking in Africa. For this specific event, the team is working closely with the World Bank Group Youth 2 Youth community, who is in charge of organizing the Youth summit.
#WBGYouthSummit #GoodGov #CitizenEngagement
Opening
Introduction to the 2021 World Bank Youth Summit, Kilian Kofi, 2021 Youth Summit Manager
Opening remarks, Elisabeth Huybens, Director, Strategy and Operation, Western and Central Africa Region, the World Bank
Panel
Tips and tools for Africa’s youth to engage in requesting accountability and transparency in their countries, Dr. Ketakandriana Rafitoson, Executive Director, Transparency International – Initiative Madagascar
Youth-driven success stories in promoting accountability
Odeh Friday, Country Director for Accountability Lab, Nigeria
Luchembe Chilufya, Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Accountability Advocates, Zambia
Aliou Sane, Journalist, Coordinator of Y’en a marre movement, Senegal
Another need for transparency: fighting conspiracy theories and fake news about vaccines, Dr. Adidja Amani
Deputy Director for Vaccination, Ministry of Health, Cameroon
Q&A
Closing remarks, Humberto López, Director, Strategy and Operation, Eastern and Southern Africa Region, the World Bank
Elisabeth Huybens
Director of Strategy and Operations for the Western and Central Africa region, the World Bank
In this position, Ms. Huybens supports the Vice President for Western and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana, in setting strategy and work programs across all sectors in the 22 countries of the sub-region. The Vice Presidency oversees a portfolio of more than 350 projects totaling more than $38.1 billion. A development expert with over 30 years of experience, Ms. Huybens joined the World Bank in February 2000 as an economist in the Africa Region. Since then she has held various positions in the Africa, East Asia Pacific, and Europe Central Asia regions, as well as the Social Development and the Sustainable Development Network. She holds a degree in Engineering and a PhD in Economics.After studying law in the UK she became a news reporter and presenter in Manchester and produced stories, features and documentaries for the BBC, ITV and HBO in New York. She's interviewed several heads of state including the presidents of Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Namibia, Mali and Angola. Georja's reported from around the world and is an insightful and friendly host of debates and corporate events. She regularly collaborates with the UN and other international organizations in moderating high level debates and dialogues. In 2019 she chaired a presidential panel at the first Luanda Biennale and pan African Forum for the culture of Peace. She’s led nuanced discussions at the UN’s world press freedom day event in Jakarta and in 2018 delved into Africa’s economy during conversations with policy makers at the World Export Development Forum in Zambia. Georja guided keynote sessions for the COP21 climate conference in Paris, shaping discussions that included former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg the Governor of California, Jerry Brown and Paris's Mayor, Anne Hidalgo. She regularly leads events for the African Development Bank, and has moderated televised debates for the institution in Ahmedabad, India and Busan, South Korea. She’s overseen a panel of ministers and presidents discussing their continent's economic challenges as chair of the OECD's Africa Forum in Paris and featured alongside Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee and ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in Le Monde's 'Women in Africa' conference. Georja is a professor of the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.

Humberto López
Director of Strategy and Operations for Eastern and Southern Africa, the World Bank
In this position, he supports the Vice President in defining and successfully implementing the strategy and work programs across the 26 countries in the region. The Vice Presidency oversees a portfolio of more than 330 projects valued at over $51 billion. Mr. López has published extensively in several diverse areas such as fiscal and exchange rate policy, and growth, and is the editor of three books on free trade agreements, migration and remittances, and the role of the investment climate for growth. He was also the main author of the World Bank’s 2006 Latin America flagship report on growth and poverty reduction. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. López was a professor of Economics in the University of Salamanca (Spain) as well as visiting professor in Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge (U.S.A.). He holds a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Kilian Kofi

2021 Youth Summit Manager
Kilian Koffi is the Manager of the World Bank Group Youth Summit, and works as an analyst for the World Bank’s Vice President for East and Southern Africa, focusing on strategy and operations across 26 countries. In his role as Manager, his aim is to further incorporate youth voices into the World Bank’s strategic direction and country dialogues. Prior to becoming the summit’s manager, Kilian was its treasurer, managing the day-to-day expenditures of Youth Summit steering committee, engaging with logistics, competition, content, and communications leads to provide timely funding in line with budget realities. Before joining the World Bank, Kilian worked as an analyst for IFC’s Trade and Competitiveness unit, and the United Nation’s Commission for Africa. Kilian holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Adidja Amani

Deputy Director for Vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health.
Dr. Adidja Amani is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Yaoundé I and the Deputy Director for Vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health. Adidja holds a Doctorate of Medicine from FMBS, a Master of Public Health from Georgia State University in Atlanta (USA), a Post Graduate in Pediatric Nutrition from Boston University, and a certificate in public Management from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She also works on vaccine hesitancy as a topic for her PhD.

Dr. Ketakandriana Rafitoson

Executive Director of Transparency International Initiative Madagascar
Dr. Ketakandriana Rafitoson is a Malagasy Political scientist, independent researcher and a pro-democracy activist. She is the acting Executive Director of Transparency International Initiative Madagascar and has been involved within local and global civil society for more than 15 years. Rafitoson has fostered citizens' engagement and political participation through various civic movements such as Wake Up Madagascar, and the Women and Youth's League for Democracy (WYLD).

Odeh Friday

Country Director for Accountability Lab Nigeria
The Accountability Lab is a global network of labs that make governance work for people by supporting active citizens, responsible leaders and accountable institutions. Odeh’s work focuses on social justice, youth development and governance. He believes it’s important to build integrity and transparency in Nigeria because he sees that peace and justice can only be maintained when everyone is held accountable.

Luchembe Chilufya

Founder and Executive Director, Alliance for Accountability Advocates Zambia
Luchembe M.K Chilufya is a 32-year-old , self-motivated, determined and focused, positive Youth Development Advocate and expert who has being working with and for youth from different regions of the world. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Accountability Advocates Zambia, a national youth-led network organization with over 150 youth and youth led organizations as members, the organization focuses on Promoting Youth Participation in the implementation and monitoring and Accountability of the National development policies, SDGs and the Agenda 2063.

Aliou Sane

Coordinator, Y en a marre (Senegal)
Aliou SANE is a journalist and a communications for development specialist. Within the movement Y en a Marre, of which he is one of the founding members, he has successively held the positions of communications coordinator, then was in charge of projects and programs. Under this capacity, he facilitated the development of the general communication strategy of the Y’en a marre movement, and the design and implementation of various awareness programs for a more active and constructive citizenship. Since March 2019, Aliou was brought to the head of Y en a marre by his comrades, in replacement of Fadel BARRO.

Dimpho Lekgeu / MODERATOR
Community manager at Youth Lab / Blog4Dev 2020 winner, South Africa
Dimpho Lekgeu is the community manager at Youth Lab, a policy think tank that works to improve youth capacity and mainstream youth participation in community building and policy making. Through her work as a journalist and media practitioner, she centers the experiences of youth and women in Africa, allowing them to unpack socio-economic issues pertinent to them. In 2018, she was awarded the Leading South Africa Candidate Scholarship to attend the One Young World Summit in the Netherlands.

Mountaga Keita / MODERATOR

Founder and CEO of Tulip Industries
Mountaga Keita is a Guinean born inventor, Founder and CEO of Tulip Industries since 2017. He has revolutionized lately the African high-tech industry by innovating a world-class and multiple Award-winning interactive green kiosks, which target public and private sectors, Government, Education, health and security segments. Before 2014, Mountaga Keita was a US banker and international project manager based in Washington DC. He has more than 10 years of experience in advising investors concerning investment-related matters. Mr. Keita was educated in the U.S, holding two graduate degrees – Master of Science in Contract Management & Procurement, Master of Business Administration and Diploma in Negotiation at Harvard Law School- with much of his work involving Manufacturing, Technology Research and Development, Artificial Intelligence and management.

Details

Where: Online
When: Friday, June 4, 2021
Time: 9pm EAT, 8pm CAT, 6pm GMT, 2pm EST
Extra information: It will run for one hour and will offer simultaneous translation between French and English.