S&Ds launch their third Africa Week for a new partnership between Europe and Africa
Date
31 Oct 2018
Sections
Public Affairs
Next week, Africa will be at the centre of the S&D Group and their partners’ activities, both from Europe and Africa. From the 5th to 9th November 2018, the S&D Group will organise their third ‘Africa Week’ with a five-day programme including political debates, cultural activities, seminars, art exhibitions and film screening, in Brussels, Modena and Mainz.
This year’s Africa Week will focus on a political partnership between EU and African progressives and on empowering young people from both regions and from the diaspora.
Topics will include a Europe-Africa partnership beyond migration, democratic participation, investigative journalism, modern slavery, the challenges of climate change, the Nelson Mandela celebration, Afro-feminism and the role of diaspora in fostering investments between both continents.
Speakers include leading politicians and activists, both from Europe and Africa: S&D Group president Udo Bullmann and other S&D MEPs; Commission vice-president & High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini; Burkina Faso president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré; professor at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Paul Collier; UN representatives, as well as European and African politicians, youth, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, activists, journalists and artists.
The full programme of the Africa Week is available here
Commenting on the upcoming Africa Week, S&D Group president Udo Bullmann said:
“Africa has been, and will continue to be, a priority for the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. Hence, we are delighted to host our third Africa Week in Brussels. The challenges African people are facing such as poverty, unemployment, migration, and pollution are European challenges. We must address them together, by further strengthening our partnership.
“Shared responsibilities must be the base principle of the new partnership between Europe and Africa; this must go far beyond the current narrative on migration. We, Socialists and Democrats, fight for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth that will leave no child, no woman and no man behind. In our daily work in the European Parliament, we Socialists and Democrats fight to reduce social inequalities, enhance good governance, and promote climate diplomacy, sustainable economic growth and the respect for human rights. We believe that the success of this renewed Europe-Africa partnership can be key in finding solutions to common global challenges.
“We are proud to take time, during next week, to engage with African leaders and intellectuals, discuss, question and challenge ourselves about how we can work better together to reduce extreme poverty and human rights violations, to boost development, tackling the root causes of the migration phenomena and ensuring a greater security. Together we can make it.”
The event is organised by the S&D Group in partnership with AfroItalian Power Initiative (API), BOZAR, Elles Tournent, European Women’s Lobby, Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Max Van der Stoel (FMS) Foundation, Party of European Socialists (PES), Party of European Socialists Women (PES Women), Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, START Creation Ixelles, Université Libre de Bruxelles-Coopération (ULB) and Young European Socialists (YES).