WESSA Annual Review 2020

country, continent and global wellbeing.

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As an interconnected world, highlighted in the strongest possible terms by the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, our ability to effectively and constructively cooperate across cultural, language and geographical divides has been amplified. On June 16 of this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed South Africa’s youth with the following call to action - “ Young people must rise to the challenge of leading our recovery after the coronavirus. ” He went on to elaborate that “ this pandemic provides us with an opportunity to inject new perspectives into how we can turn our economy around, but also how we can reimagine our very society! …. Our young people have proven time and time again that their immense optimism and desire to make a change is very strong. ” WESSA responded through the creation of a youth led Coronavirus Response Team within the AGYI to proactively support, capacitate and enable theAGYI network tomobilize in the face of theCOVID19 challenge. The shut down in international travel did not shut down the impact of global learning and international cooperation but highlighted the agency of AGYI youth networks to action and work towards overcoming local challenges. Further contributions from WESSA during the project period have included the development of resources such as the “Good Practice and Responsible Exchange and Volunteering – a guideline for practitioners”, facilitating the formation of the Southern African Alumni Network; contributing to local, continental and international working groups for the promotion of sustainable development, inclusivity in volunteering, Continental COVID Response strategies for youth, initiating the National Youth Resilience Dialogue and profiling South Africa’s youth activators into the continental and global arena.

With this exposure, volunteering has expanded my comprehensive lens in which I see the world. It has shaped how I perceive and understand my own identity and those of people I interacted with, issues that affect us in our immediate surroundings, relations of people and institutions. Voluntary work helped me gain a global perspective.

Lebogang Mokoena (Youth participant – Weltwaerts Volunteer Programme)

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Annual Review 2019-2020

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