Young opinions on National Dialogue - from Mekelle

On 28 May 2024 FES and its partners from the Alliance of Youth Oriented CSOs in National Dialogue (AYCSOND), ASCOT and STS have organized a Youth Side Dialogue on National Dialogue in Mekelle, Tigray.

40 young people from Mekelle and surrounding villages set down and discussed in depth on the challenges that young people in Tigray are facing today and on how their engagement in National Dialogue could look like.

Nobody had doubts about the necessity of dialogue on a national and even regional level, but some participants expressed a lack of trust in the official National Dialogue process and its independence and inclusivity. When it came to the social and economic problems of the Tigray youth, the participants clearly stated unemployment (above 80%) and lack of economic empowerment in general as one of their biggest issues as well as their specific ‘post war’ situation marked by trauma, displacement and missing recreation efforts as well as the destruction of infrastructures and the lack of post-war reconstruction. There are also not many youth focused organizations in Tigray to provide trainings, socio-economic and political empowering initiatives and sustainable job opportunities for young persons which could finally lay the foundation for societal advancement and development. When it came to youth in politics, the young Tigrinyans observed a lack of youth inclusive political environment, corruption, and a backward perspective of the society on the role of the youth. For the National Dialogue the young people from Mekelle would like to see the following topics on the agenda:

• Youth Economic empowerment and reparation
• Full implementation of Pretoria Agreement; returning the territorial integrity of the region, and sustained peace and security
• Trauma healing through mental health, justice and accountability
• Good governance
• and additional emergency humanitarian support