The first phase of the Fondacio Congress in Africa ended yesterday (Wednesday, March 2, 2022), in Togo. A forum on social entrepreneurship and the professional integration of young people was held on Saturday and Sunday. The delegates then reviewed the last four years of the current mandate. This will make it possible to define the new orientations for the next mandate, starting in 2023.
120 participants at the forum
More than 120 participants attended the forum to launch the 6th International Fondacio Congress, on Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27, at the Sichem Center, near Lomé, Togo. The challenges facing the African labor market today were discussed at the forum.
Young people and social entrepreneurship and professional integration stakeholders participated in several conferences on renewable energy, promising economic sectors and the production and marketing of mugwort. The forum was also broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook.
"Inspiring young people"
“Social entrepreneurship and professional integration fully engage young people in Africa today,” says Jérôme Tozé, Africa coordinator for Fondacio. “Young graduates are facing unemployment because of the gap between training and employment. It’s striking. We want to help them change their mindset. Find a direction, not just a degree. Find what they can commit to and be useful to, while avoiding unemployment.”
Entrepreneurs, trained at the Fondacio Training Institute (IFF) in Africa, shared their experiences. "We relied on people who have succeeded, who have achieved results," explains Jérôme Tozé. "We aim to inspire young people. Make them understand that they can start from nothing and still achieve something sustainable. It's time for a change! "
For Fondacio President François Prouteau, "you just have to look: the sun is there, the water is there, the earth is abundant, human beings are generous... If I have something to say to the young people of Africa, it is: put roots in this earth! Your future is here, yours and that of the generation to come."
Review the mandate
After the forum, about thirty African delegates and several members of the Fondacio Board worked in groups from Monday to Wednesday. "They reviewed the last four years, since the last Congress" held in 2018 in the Philippines, explains Yvonne Altorfer, a member of the Fondacio Board in charge of preparing and facilitating the Congress.
During the first phase of the Congress, similar meetings will take place on each continent to launch the synodal process. "The Congress is a spiritual journey, listening to the signs of the times and the Holy Spirit. It is a moment of unity and a time of ratification of the fundamental reference texts," emphasizes Yvonne Altorfer. The work of discernment is carried out by a college of about a hundred delegates, who come from all over the world.
Three main directions for the Congress
In 2018, three major orientations were decided for Fondacio. All three were reviewed this week by the delegates and members of the Council present in Togo.
The first was the youth. "It is a priority for Africa, but also for other countries," says François Prouteau. "There is no future without them. We must help them and give them opportunities to commit to a career for the future."
The second priority was integral ecology, "with issues related to social justice and service to the poor."
Finally, the third major orientation was spirituality. "This goes beyond religious affiliations," explains the president of Fondacio. "It is this quest for meaning that drives us all. This is how we can become actors in a world full of meaning and hope; a more just, humane and ecological world."
Participants' words
Fondacio boss in Congo, Hubert Alain Alouna, says: "The impressions are good. We have gathered everything that each African country has done as a reading of its priorities during the past mandate. For Appo Hubert Mananga, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, "with the themes that we have addressed, I realized that Fondacio has already worked well, but that there are still things to do."
Selina Awuitor of Ghana enjoyed meeting "several people. We shared our thoughts, it was really interesting." Christian Roger Obama of Cameroon added: "Fondacio, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wants to move forward. That is the essence of the first phase of the Congress: to move the lines, to evolve, according to the world."
Other delegates, from Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Guinea, took part in the online discussions.
A Congress every five years
For the first time, this year and next, the Congress, which is Fondacio’s highest governing body, will take place in three phases. The first phase will take place on four continents until June 2022. Lomé, Togo, was the beginning. It will then take place in Bogota, Colombia, from April 2 to 6; in Versailles, France, from May 24 to 27; and in Asia from June 18 to 22.
The second phase, that of the election of the President, will take place from October 2022 to March 2023. The third, all the delegates will meet in May 2023, in Africa. There, the main orientations for the years to come and the texts discussed during the synodal process will be reviewed and approved. After a ratification vote, François Prouteau will pass responsibility to the new Council.
Watch the interview with François Prouteau (above), and that of Jérôme Tozé (below).
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