Networking in Accra: “Future of AGYO” workshop a success

From 30th October to 3rd November, the African-German Youth Office held its first event in Africa - a networking workshop in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. The four-day event provided a forum for 22 participants from civil society and organisations to meet up with representatives from Engagement Global and share knowledge and ideas, network with each other and ask questions. The results will now be incorporated into an evaluation process for the AGYO’s pilot phase.

Nearly 300 people from Germany and various African countries took part in an open application process to participate in the first African-German Youth Office (AGYO) networking workshop. 22 applicants from Benin, Ghana, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Germany were ultimately selected to spend four days discussing how the AGYO might be shaped in the future. The event produced ideas and recommendations for Engagement Global on what the AGYO could do to promote youth and young expert exchanges between Germany and African countries in the long term.

  • The photo shows three workshop participants talking.
    The “market place” on the first day was an opportunity for engaging discussions for everyone.
  • The photo shows two workshop participants looking at an open laptop. One of them is explaining to the other what is on the laptop screen.
    What am I working on? What are the aims? At the market place, workshop participants were able to find out about each other’s volunteering work and share ideas.
  • The photo shows a participant smiling. She is watching another participant write something on a piece of paper.
    Major potential and masses of expertise. The participants’ diverse backgrounds and experience were key to making the workshop a success.
  • The photo shows Svenja Bloom in front of a poster. She is smiling at the camera.
    Svenja Bloom is a former Team works! participant. She was on assignment at the beginning of the year with an NGO in Uganda that provides support to rural communities. Svenja shared her experiences at the workshop.
  • A big thumbs-up: Kerstin Giebel, Lenin Kazoba and Oscar Ogole.
    The photo shows Kerstin Giebel, Lenin Kazoba and Oscar Ogole. They are sitting next to each other on the floor and smiling at the camera.
  • The photo shows a group of participants listening to a SolarTaxi employee. They are standing in an automotive workshop at the company.
    Visit to SolarTaxi. The Accra-based business carries out solar and electric conversions of cars and motor scooters.
  • The photo shows Laurence Bayer, a project manager for the AGYO, with a group of participants. They are standing in the automotive workshop at SolarTaxi.
    Laurence Bayer is a Team works! project manager at the Senior Experten Service.
  • The photo shows Laurence Bayer, Erica Kusi Amponsah and a SolarTaxi employee in the company’s workshop.
    Most of SolarTaxi’s employees are women and the business promotes gender equality as well as environmental issues. Erica Kusi Amponsah (in the middle of the photo) is an engineer at SolarTaxi and a former Team works! participant.
  • The photo shows a group of participants taking a selfie on SolarTaxi’s roof-top terrace.
    Time for a roof-top photo session in Accra.
  • The photo shows three workshop participants talking.
    The “market place” on the first day was an opportunity for engaging discussions for everyone.
  • The photo shows two workshop participants looking at an open laptop. One of them is explaining to the other what is on the laptop screen.
    What am I working on? What are the aims? At the market place, workshop participants were able to find out about each other’s volunteering work and share ideas.
  • The photo shows a participant smiling. She is watching another participant write something on a piece of paper.
    Major potential and masses of expertise. The participants’ diverse backgrounds and experience were key to making the workshop a success.
  • The photo shows Svenja Bloom in front of a poster. She is smiling at the camera.
    Svenja Bloom is a former Team works! participant. She was on assignment at the beginning of the year with an NGO in Uganda that provides support to rural communities. Svenja shared her experiences at the workshop.
  • A big thumbs-up: Kerstin Giebel, Lenin Kazoba and Oscar Ogole.
    The photo shows Kerstin Giebel, Lenin Kazoba and Oscar Ogole. They are sitting next to each other on the floor and smiling at the camera.
  • The photo shows a group of participants listening to a SolarTaxi employee. They are standing in an automotive workshop at the company.
    Visit to SolarTaxi. The Accra-based business carries out solar and electric conversions of cars and motor scooters.
  • The photo shows Laurence Bayer, a project manager for the AGYO, with a group of participants. They are standing in the automotive workshop at SolarTaxi.
    Laurence Bayer is a Team works! project manager at the Senior Experten Service.
  • The photo shows Laurence Bayer, Erica Kusi Amponsah and a SolarTaxi employee in the company’s workshop.
    Most of SolarTaxi’s employees are women and the business promotes gender equality as well as environmental issues. Erica Kusi Amponsah (in the middle of the photo) is an engineer at SolarTaxi and a former Team works! participant.
  • The photo shows a group of participants taking a selfie on SolarTaxi’s roof-top terrace.
    Time for a roof-top photo session in Accra.

The attendees included former participants from and representatives of the AGYO’s two programmes for youth and young expert exchange, Teams up! and Team works! But there were also some people who had not been closely involved with the AGYO in the past and who were given the opportunity to share their expertise and ideas. The aim, after all, was to hear a good mix of well-informed opinions and experiences from people who care about African-German youth exchange.

  • The picture shows a group of workshop participants dancing at DUNK Grassroots. The dance instructor can be seen in the foreground.
    Visit to DUNK Grassroots. This organisation in Jamestown (already a Teams up! partner) runs basketball and boxing programmes plus dance workshops for local children and adolescents.
  • The picture shows a group of workshop participants dancing at DUNK Grassroots. The dance instructor can be seen in the foreground.
    The workshop participants were happy to join in the fun too!
  • Participants of the workshop sit in a room at DUNK in Jamestown.
    At DUNK in Jamestown.
  • The photo shows a large group at the DUNK Grassroots centre in Jamestown. The group is made up of workshop participants and members of DUNK and the Rising Lions.
    During the DUNK visit, the participants met the “Rising Lions Ghana” group - adolescents and young adults who promote equitable education. They had just come back from Germany where they’d been for the first exchange visit on their Teams up! project.
  • The photo shows two people playing basketball.
    The workshop participants couldn’t resist the chance to try out DUNK’s basketball court.
  • The photo shows three people at the workshop at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra.
    Team works! On the third day of the workshop, part of the group visited the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra to discuss the programme’s potential and future direction. They included Alex Martin Musiime (in the middle of the picture) - a former Team works! participant.
  • The photo shows a conference room. A person can be seen from behind in the foreground. They are standing next to a flip chart. Three people sitting at a table are listening to the person.
    Visit to the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra.
  • The picture shows a group of workshop participants dancing at DUNK Grassroots. The dance instructor can be seen in the foreground.
    Visit to DUNK Grassroots. This organisation in Jamestown (already a Teams up! partner) runs basketball and boxing programmes plus dance workshops for local children and adolescents.
  • The picture shows a group of workshop participants dancing at DUNK Grassroots. The dance instructor can be seen in the foreground.
    The workshop participants were happy to join in the fun too!
  • Participants of the workshop sit in a room at DUNK in Jamestown.
    At DUNK in Jamestown.
  • The photo shows a large group at the DUNK Grassroots centre in Jamestown. The group is made up of workshop participants and members of DUNK and the Rising Lions.
    During the DUNK visit, the participants met the “Rising Lions Ghana” group - adolescents and young adults who promote equitable education. They had just come back from Germany where they’d been for the first exchange visit on their Teams up! project.
  • The photo shows two people playing basketball.
    The workshop participants couldn’t resist the chance to try out DUNK’s basketball court.
  • The photo shows three people at the workshop at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra.
    Team works! On the third day of the workshop, part of the group visited the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra to discuss the programme’s potential and future direction. They included Alex Martin Musiime (in the middle of the picture) - a former Team works! participant.
  • The photo shows a conference room. A person can be seen from behind in the foreground. They are standing next to a flip chart. Three people sitting at a table are listening to the person.
    Visit to the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Accra.

Applying the “leave no one behind” principle to youth exchange

All AGYO-funded projects are designed to contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And the workshop participants felt it was particularly important that the young people who take part in the projects help raise awareness of the SDGs. They called for adolescents and young adults to be empowered (even) more to spread the SDG message. There was also a clear desire for the AGYO programmes to be more focused on making it easier for disadvantaged young people to access them - in line with the “leave no one behind” principle, the central promise of the SDGs.

Julia Escher, Head of the African-German Youth Office, underlined how successful the event had been: “The workshop was a great opportunity to engage in a productive dialogue with stakeholders from African countries and Germany and to find out what they think of the African-German Youth Office as well as to discuss current challenges with them. The results showed us that the AGYO - along with civil society and business - can continue to play a key role in bringing together and supporting young community activists  from different backgrounds.”  

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