The conference on “Accelerating science for development in Africa by increasing the momentum and impact of National Young Academies” was organised by the Global Young Academy (GYA) in cooperation with the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC). It brought together representatives from the NASAC member academies with all existing National Young Academies (NYAs) in Africa, as well as representatives from NYA initiatives and other young scientists from the countries in the NASAC network.
The main objective of the first African Regional Young Academies Conference was to engage and empower excellent young researchers from across Africa to address the challenges that impede scientific development towards a sustainable future for the region. The participants developed a roadmap to promote the formation of further NYAs in Africa as well as for the network between existing NYAs in Africa. Moreover, they discussed the role of young scientists and young academies for the capacity building and science-policy dialogue in Africa. The Kenya National Young Academy of Sciences (KNYAS) was officially launched during the opening ceremony of the conference.
The conference was funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation. It is planned to continue biannually.