As part of its sensitization for its forthcoming Roundtable Conference scheduled to take place in December 2022, the Executive Director of CAFOR, Dr. Lawalley Cole, met with delegations from Government and the private sector. On Tuesday, 11th October 2022, our Executive Director met with officials from the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Addis Ababa for fruitful discussions. CAFOR looks forward to furthering cooperation with the State of Qatar in the area of education and youth development for the African continent.  Dr. Cole was also delighted to meet with managers and officials from Ethiopian Airlines on Wednesday 12^th October 2022 to discuss CAFOR partnerships with the private sector in Ethiopia and the broader African continent and ensure that they participate more actively in education and youth skills development for employability in Africa. Ethiopian Airlines is a significant institution in Ethiopia and has remained Africa’s premier airline with world-class standards for several decades. A few weeks ago, our Executive Director also met with Dr Dorka Horvath CEO and Co-Founder of BOOKR Kids/Edtech Entrepreneur with her team in Budapest, Hungary, and also discussed how BOOKR Kids/Edtech Entrepreneur would support CAFOR’s digitizing education projects.

The forthcoming Roundtable Conference will constitute CAFOR’s direct response to the African Union’s invitation to all Member States, development partners, other international and regional organizations, the private sector, and civil society, including nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, the youth, and other relevant stakeholders to support the implementation of the African Union Declaration concluded at an extraordinary event held in New York on 20th September 2022, on Priority Actions for Transforming Education in Africa. CAFOR notes with tremendous interest the African Union’s underscoring and acknowledgment of the role of development partners, civil societies, youth, the private sector, and other critical actors in the strategic partnerships forged in the implementation of CESA 16-25, SDG 4 – Education 2030, Continental TVET Strategy and STISA 2024. CAFOR would provide a continent-wide digital platform for exchanging information, experience, and practices about new technologies and innovations among experts in government ministries, CSOs, NGOs, the media, the youth, and communities. To ensure the highest level of community engagement, CAFOR will promote an innovative digital community practice involving the youth in agriculture, entrepreneurship, and other vocations to help curb internal and external migration through innovative technology and utilize the strengths of chatbots and mobile technology.

The proposed Roundtable Conference would contribute to setting up sustainable funding mechanisms to accelerate CAFOR’s sustainable financing needs and increase CAFOR’s impact on the performance of the policy and the legal framework for advancing education and development for young people in Africa.  It would also enable CAFOR to develop education and innovative skills for young Africans with support from local and international partners. CAFOR is looking forward to providing its utmost support in education and youth skills development within the framework of its ten flagship programs. Stay tuned for further information about the CAFOR Roundtable Conference.