European Union (EU) has inaugurated a 25-member Youth Sounding Board in Nigeria that will have an influence on its development cooperation in the country.

The Youth Sounding Board is a space for young people to have an influence on the EU’s external action through its international partnerships.

The board will help make EU action more participatory, relevant and effective for young people in Nigeria across all political priorities, according to the EU.

‘We have selected representatives of the youths and we really want them to participate in designing our new programmes and be part of decision making’, Head of EU in Nigeria, Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, remarked.

‘We want young people to help us make our projects and programmes more adaptive in their minds’.

Tassin-Pelzer added that the EU and the Nigerian government have agreed to help create job opportunities for young people and also encourage them to participate in the democratic process.

‘The youths are the future of the country and development of Nigeria cannot be achieved without their youth demography which constitutes the majority’, she said.

‘We want to help them network among themselves and carry them along in economic and social development’.

For his part, Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sport Development, Sunday Dare, commended the EU for supporting youth development.

“The approach to dealing with youth issues must be multifaceted and collaborative. What they are doing today adds another layer to the efforts of the federal government to engage our youths and empower them’, Dare said.

Photo source: European Union in Nigeria