The YAB, through its Chairperson, Busiswa Dlamini, made a comprehensive presentation on the achievements of the past year, particularly on the five thematic areas – Climate Change and Environment; Social Inclusion; Human Capital Development / Skills Development; Employment / Entrepreneurship / Private Sector and Communications / Networking / Partnership. The YAB members appreciated the opportunity to participate in public diplomacy and outreach events organised by the EU Delegation in 2023-2024.

The parties also discussed challenges and how to overcome these in the coming second year.

The YAB, selected on merit and with recognition of the country’s diversity and geographic/regional representation, is a group of young people that plays an advisory role to help make EU action in Eswatini more participatory, relevant and effective for the country’s youth. In fact, their role entails advising, monitoring and informing. Young people make 70% of the Eswatini people and, as such, development cannot be achieved without them.

Moreover, the focus of EU development assistance in Eswatini in the next few years is youth, jobs, employability and social inclusion. Therefore, youth participation and involvement in EU programming is crucial.

The idea to establish the YAB is subsequent to the adoption of the Youth Action Plan in the European Union External Action for 2022 – 2027. This is the first ever policy framework for a strategic partnership with young people around the world to build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future.