Ahead of the International Youth Day tomorrow, 12 August, the European Commission announced today the 25 young people selected to be members of the 2023–2025 European Union Youth Sounding Board for International Partnerships. The board will advise Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, and the Directorate-General for International Partnerships on youth participation and empowerment in EU external action. This is the second edition of the International Partnerships Youth Sounding Board after the first cohort ended their mandate in July.
The Youth Sounding Board members were selected through an open call that resulted in more than 4 500 applications from 150 countries. For the next two years, the board will be composed of 14 women and 11 men, aged 19–29. Ten members come from Africa, six from Asia, one from the Pacific, five from Latin America and the Caribbean, and three from the European Union. They are:
- Ahmednoor Bashir Haji from Kenya
- Alicia Ramdal from Trinidad and Tobago
- Amani Al-mehsen from Finland
- Andrea Remes from Mexico
- Ani Tuisausau from Fiji
- Anna Gabriela Ferreira Noval from Venezuela
- Anojitha Sivaskaran from Sri Lanka
- Damien Baraka from Malawi
- Deborah Mukundwa from Rwanda
- Dexter Arvin Yang from the Philippines
- Emmanuel Todd Gweamee from Liberia
- Geth Semani Akhenra Maiga from Côte D'Ivoire
- John Jessy Nabundesi from Uganda
- Kiwar Maigua from Ecuador
- Lorna Akoacha Enow from Cameroon
- Luis Gustavo Heredia Vasquez from Peru
- Mariama Faty from Senegal
- Nora Piay Fernandez from Spain
- Pak-Yen Loke from Malaysia
- Pratik Kunwar from Nepal
- Raphael Denis Harriohay from Tanzania
- Shakhzoda Mirakova from Uzbekistan
- Sofia Scarlat from Romania
- Stephanie Chiaky Otuteye from Ghana
- Wajid Zahid from Pakistan
Under the mandate of Commissioner Urpilainen, the EU has put more emphasis on pro-actively engaging with young people to foster sustainable development worldwide. The Youth Action Plan in EU external action, adopted in October 2022, formalises this vision of partnership with young people as essential actors of change for more democratic, equal, inclusive and peaceful societies. The EU Youth Sounding Board 2021–2023 participated in co-creating the Youth Action Plan, and the Youth Sounding Board 2023–2025 will be involved in its implementation.
