The world has been facing multifaceted and unprecedented crises for some time now.

The year 2023 was marked in Africa in particular by a resurgence of wars and the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, particularly in the Great Lakes region and the Sahel states. At the same time, we have witnessed a decline in democratic values with the erosion of the meaning of elections as one of the pillars of democracy. In addition, the climate crisis has accelerated, requiring immediate strategic action at the local, continental, and global levels.

 

These factors have highlighted the importance of taking concerted action and stepping up our efforts to promote more democratic, inclusive, peaceful societies that are resilient to climate change and the excesses of certain political powers.

 

It has been essential to encourage the emergence of new agents of change, support their actions, and promote democratic institutions that respect the fundamental rights of peoples and individuals, while making diversity an opportunity and a driving force for social harmony.

 

In 2023, we focused our efforts on mobilization, education, dialogue, networking, advocacy, and strategic and participatory partnerships with young people and women in Africa (particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Togo). These actions have significantly strengthened their commitment to peace, participatory democracy, and climate action.

 

We have encouraged and promoted responsible and transparent governance, ethical leadership, climate justice, and the protection and support of the most vulnerable in terms of health, psychology, and legal issues. We encouraged and promoted responsible and transparent governance, ethical leadership, climate justice, and health, psychological, and legal protection and support for the most vulnerable, namely displaced persons, refugees, women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence in the DRC, people living with disabilities, etc.

 

The impact of these actions is reflected in the strengthening of collective resilience, the contribution to inter-community reconciliation processes, the elevation of the level of civic leadership of civil society actors, the inclusion of young people and women in the sphere of local and national governance in their countries, the expansion of our network of change agents in Africa, the rebuilding of hope and meaning in life for hundreds of people displaced by war and women survivors of sexual violence in camps in eastern DRC, and the restoration of individuals' confidence in their power to bring about transformative change within local communities.

 

With our vast community of young people and women who are agents of change in Africa's Great Lakes and Sahel regions, we continue to work towards the emergence of democratic, just, and peaceful societies. Building peace and restoring hope in the hearts of human beings is one of the noble missions of our generation at a time when humanity is facing a systemic crisis to which no one yet has a real answer.

 

In 2024, beyond our traditional activities, we will rely on our teams' sense of innovation to develop new approaches, while exploiting the untapped and unlimited potential offered by new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in the service of peace, democracy, climate action, and sustainable community development.

 

We sincerely hope to benefit from your trust and support in continuing this work.