MDAHALO WA VYUO VIKUU AFRIKA MASHARIKI KUFANYIKA DAR-ES-SALAAM

EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY

PRESS RELEASE

ALL SET FOR 2ND EAC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’DEBATE

The 2nd EAC University Students’ Debate on Regional Integration is slated for 2 – 3 September 2013 next week at the at Belmont hotel in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

The Debate whose theme is: “Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges arising from the EAC Integration for Youth in East Africa” aims at promoting continuous dialogue among the youth and to interest them in advocating for regional integration initiatives

The debate is expected to  bring together representatives from academia, private sector, civil society, media and technocrats from the East African region who will listen to the debate and make their comments on the strength of the deliberations and make recommendations on the way forward for the debate

The Debate involves six participants from each EAC Partner State, drawn from national universities, both public and private and other institutions of higher learning. The participants will choose to be either on the opposition or proposition side.

The EAC University Students’ Debate will be moderated by three judges with expertise on the specific area of discussion  on the overall area of EAC and political integration.

The two-day function will be capped with a gala dinner, at which the best debaters will be presented with awards and also appointed as EAC Youth Ambassadors 2013/2014 with an obligation to spear head peer to peer learning in their respective universities in collaboration with the EAC Secretariat and EAC Ministries in the Partner States.

Notes to Editors

The East African Community Youth Summit on EAC Integration and Development Processes held in Arusha, Tanzania from 2^nd – 3^rd November, 2007 set the precedent for youth participation in the EAC integration.  The Summit acknowledged that information and education on East African Integration and development is fundamental for enhancement and sustainability of regional integration.

The youth called upon the EAC Secretariat to engage young people as partners to reach out to their peers on issues of EAC Integration and processes which will empower high-level skills needed to drive national and regional development. 

The 1^st EAC University Students’ Debate attracted over 100 students and 15 lecturers from public, private and other higher institutions of learning.

In addition, the debate also brought together representation from private sector, civil society, media, technocrats and academia. Six participants were drawn from each Partner States making a total of 30 debaters. Students from other local universities in Arusha also attended and took part in the debate