DPI Weblog

I am currently in Congo, Brazaville attending the second ordinary congress of the PanAfrican Youth Union, one of the specialised agencies of the African Union Commission and the representative body for youth matters. I have been involved in the revitalisation of the organisation since 2005, and was invited by the organisers of the meeting and the African Union Commission to present the draft revised statutes of the Union.

Its been an entirely interesting process since we got here. Even though I am used to power outages, I saw the greatest wonder in my entire life. There was no power in the parliament building for almost half the day and we were told that the operator of the back-up generator was at home so they had to go look for him. Dont ask me about the details…

The congress is going entirely well, and new Executive will be elected today. There has been quite some interesting debate on the revised statutes and hopefully it will be completed today. I will write more when I get the time because its alittle difficult for me to use a french keyboard.

Last saturday was my last official day as the Executive Director of Development Partnership International. How time flies, it seems like only yesterday, yet I have been holding sway at DPI for three and half years. I am so happy to have been able to work with a dynamic team of young people who are interested in change and to contribute my little quota to youth work in Nigeria. I am particularly proud to have been able to work with former Ms. Onyinye Ndubisi (now Mrs.) DPI co-founder, during this period.

I have been replaced by Ms. Betsy Imabibo. A dynamic young woman who has been DPI’s International Partnerships and Billingual Coordinator since its inception. She is being joined on the management by a team of dynamic and determined youth leaders from various professions. I will be working with Betsy as adviser to the organisation during the course of her term.

I wish Betsy and the rest of the management team all success they deserve.

I am in Port Harcourt for the Rivers State Youth Summit where the Honourable Minister of Youth Development, the distinguished Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, was invited as special guest of honour. Hear what he had to say:

” Even though, media reports always brand the Niger-Delta as a place of negative and criminal activities, I must make bold to say, that while these hold true for a few, many Niger-Delta youth are engaged in positive activities to develop their communities. They must be commended for their outstanding work. When I assumed office in July 2007, one of my first few assignments was to approve the re-nomination of Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima to the Commonwealth Regional Youth Caucus, a youth from this state, who has made this nation proud in various respect. I have worked first hand with Dabesaki during his National Youth Service, and through his work as Nigeria’s representative at the Commonwealth Youth Caucus. I must tell you how proud we are of him and how his work has been of significant benefit to the ministry and the young people of this country by extension. I was very pleased to note that Dabesaki was invited to the African Union Ministers meeting in Ethiopia last February in his personal capacity.”

Please follow the following link for additional documentation: http://www.thecommonwealthclub.co.uk/pages/page.php?id=116

Nkabom is a Youth Leadership Programme run by the Royal Commonwealth Society for young people (18 to 25 years) from across the Commonwealth. This year the programme will be hosted in Cyprus between 13 and 24 September and will explore the topic ‘Conflict and Beyond’ through an exciting programme of workshops, activities, tours, discussions and debates. Participants will engage with local peace-building projects and think about the theme on a global scale, sharing experience of conflict and conflict resolution from their own countries. The programme will also nurture leadership skills, encouraging delegates to become the Commonwealth leaders of tomorrow.

Sound interesting?
Then why not take at look at the Information and Application Pack for further details of the project and how to get involved.

You can apply by completing this application form and sending it to us by email, fax or post.

It must reach us by 15 June 2008.

• Please email your application to claire.anholt@rcsint.org  with the subject header ‘Nkabom Application’

• Or please send it by post to: Nkabom 2008, The Royal Commonwealth Society, 25 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AP. UK

• Or please fax it to: +44 20 7930 9705 and mark ‘For the attention of the Nkabom team’

“From e-Learning to e-Education”

Brussels, May 26-27, 2008

Faced with the rising perils and uncertainties of the digital/postmodern era, we embark on setting a new course that will enable us to navigate in these turbulent waters. Our aim is to deepen our understanding of this new reality and the ways in which it affects the way we think and communicate, learn and educate.

This symposium deals with the intricate challenges that the information society, and the virtual reality in particular, imposes upon our overall sense of well-being and education. A central theme is the consideration of the ways in which the virtual reality can work in our favor to promote well-being and virtue-centered educational processes. These considerations complement the Lisbon’s objectives of 2000 to work towards the strategic modernisation of society and education systems.

The Symposium will open these issues for critical consideration from fresh and broad perspectives. This will serve as a background for presenting iClass – a personalized learning platform and pedagogy aimed at enhancing humanistic values, rational discourse, and mindful decision making.

We invite those who are interested in the symposium’s issues to present a paper in the open session during the symposium. Selected papers will also be included in the special issue of E-Learning journal that will be dedicated to the symposium. Please send one page abstract proposals to the symposium organizers by May 10, 2008.

Symposium Academic Management:
	The Center for Futurism in Education at Ben-Gurion University
Symposium Administrative Coordination:
	Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Belgium