Call for Applications: AFR100 Youth Ambassadors

By the AFR100 Secretariat

Aspiration 1 of the African Union's Agenda 2063 envisions a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. To achieve this ambition, we must ensure that the continent has environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient economies and communities. The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is a country-led effort to restore 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes across Africa by 2030. AFR100 will accelerate restoration to enhance food security, increase climate change resilience and mitigation, and combat rural poverty.

AFR100 responds to the African Union mandate to bring 100 million hectares of degraded land into restoration by 2030. It complements the African Landscapes Action Plan (ALAP) and the broader Land Degradation Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change (LDBA) program of the African Union. AFR100 contributes to the achievement of domestic restoration and sustainable development commitments, the Bonn Challenge, and the New York Declaration on Forestss. The initiative directly contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. It builds on the experience and progress achieved through the TerrAfrica Partnership and related landscape restoration efforts.

We need to increase youth participation in the implementation of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) across the 28 AFR100 countries. Now, AFR100 is building a youth-focused campaign. We seek to select 5-6 AFR100 Youth Ambassadors who will contribute to creating momentum for FLR implementation on the ground by engaging with our target audiences, providing an inspiring example for other youth to follow, and creating awareness among policy and decision-makers across the African continent ofthe opportunities connected with FLR in terms of economic and social development.

We look forward to the prospect of working with you to upscale the FLR agenda in Africa. Kindly share with us the following information to apply:

1. Short bio: No more than 100 words (around 6-7 lines). The bio should introduce your fields of expertise, credentials, and what you can offer to FLR in Africa. Please present yourself in a warm and familiar way that could appeal to young Africans. It's important to write the bio in a way to balance credibility and approachability.
2. High-Resoution Photo: It should be like passport photo (head and shoulder only, centered), but a little bit informal like a selfie. The photos should look professional but not stiff.
3. Two relevant aspects of your work that relate to restoration to stimulate AFR100 social media thinking and discussion.

We would appreciate if you could forward the information to us by the end of business, Central African Time on Wednesday, August 28, 2019. To submit, please email tekoh@nepad.org and CamillaH@nepad.org. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.