The Chronicle
Leonard Ncube, Victora Falls Reporter
THE Junior Chamber International (JCI), a global membership driven organisation for young people will host an international conference to be attended by more than 500 people in Victoria Falls in May.
Membership is drawn from youths between the ages of 18 and 40 years.
JCI is in about 5 000 communities in 115 countries worldwide with over 200 000 active members and over 2 million alumni comprising mostly former members that have exceeded 40 years of age.
JCI is divided into Africa-Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and America regions.
JCI Zimbabwe, an affiliate of JCI international which is headquartered in United States, will be hosting the Africa-Middle East conference between 17 and 20 May on behalf of the country after successfully bidding to host the event with the help of the Government.
Executive vice president of JCI Africa-Middle East Mr Achille Sonehekpon arrived in Victora Falls to inspect hotel and conference facilities and assess readiness of JCI Zimbabwe to host the event.
He is being accompanied by director of Africa-Middle East Mr Olatunyi Oyeyemi and advisor of JCI Africa-Middle East Mr Olajide Adeyemi.
JCI members join a dance group at the Victoria Falls AirportIt is the first time the event is being held in Zimbabwe and is expected to capacitate youth to take leadership roles at workplaces and communities.
“We appreciate to be here in Victoria Falls to see how everything is going to start our amazing programme in Victoria Falls in May. We are here to see if everything is ready so we want everyone to come and witness this conference in Victoria Falls,” he said.
JC Zimbabwe national president Mr Samuel Takudzva Nehumba said the organisation is there to take youths through a leadership journey and allowing them to discover their true potential through activities, training and events.
“Members are empowered to be active and be able to hold events like area conferences and world congress. Each region holds its own area conference and at the last conference for Africa and Middle East in Tunisia last year Zimbabwe made a bid to host the Area Conference for Africa and Middle East and through the support of the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority won the bid,” he said.
The conference will be held under the theme: “Leadership, Resilience and Sustainability” which seeks to capacitate youths to see how far they can be resilient and drive sustainable economies especially in times of shocks like Covid-19.
Mr Nehumba said even non-members can attend the conference which is expected to bring a lot of benefits, not only in tourism but in youth empowerment.
“This is an event that is open to every young person who envisions themselves as leaders or want to be one,” he said.
Over 500 young people from Africa and Middle East are expected to attend.
Article Source: The Chronicle