The 2025 Africa-Europe Foundation Youth Award./ PHOTO ; AI
The 2025 edition of the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) Youth Awards has shone a powerful spotlight on African youth leadership, innovation, and collaboration.
With 401 applications received, 373 from Africa and 28 from Europe, this year’s Awards captured the energy of young changemakers redefining cross-continental cooperation.
Held under the #RoadtoLuanda25 campaign, the initiative forms part of the Foundation’s efforts to amplify youth voices in the lead-up to the 7th African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit, set for November 2025 in Luanda, Angola.
The Awards celebrate youth-led projects that are not only visionary but also practical and rooted in the shared values of peace, sustainability, equality, and inclusion that unite Africa and Europe.
About the Youth Awards
The AEF Youth Awards were established to recognise and strengthen youth-led organisations and initiatives that make Africa–Europe cooperation visible, tangible, and transformative.
Each year, the Awards spotlight young people who are driving meaningful change, whether through technology, climate action, health advocacy, peacebuilding, or gender equality.
In the 2025 edition, eight proposals were selected for their outstanding impact and alignment with the AEF’s vision.
Six winners received a €5,000 grant, while two exceptional initiatives were honoured with exclusive €10,000 awards for high-impact, high-visibility projects.
Beyond the financial support, the Award offers recipients increased visibility, mentorship opportunities, and a platform to engage with policymakers from the AU and EU.
By investing in youth innovation, the Foundation aims to ensure that young leaders are not just participants in the Africa-Europe dialogue but active architects of the partnership’s future.
Spotlight on Africa’s Youth Champions
From Lagos to Luanda, Antananarivo to Nairobi, this year’s African winners demonstrated creativity, resilience, and a powerful commitment to collaboration.
Their projects reflect the diversity and dynamism of a generation determined to shape a better shared future for Africa and Europe.
Alhanislam Media Limited (Nigeria)
Project: The Bridge Series
From Nigeria, Alhanislam Media and its partner community, TrueMyVoice, are connecting cultures and inspiring peace through the Bridge Series, a multimedia storytelling initiative that explores the ties between Africa and Europe.
Centred on the “What Makes You Human” podcast and the spoken word performance “The Bridge”, the project blends art, language, and digital media to highlight shared humanity and foster understanding between continents.
Through youth-led storytelling, spoken word performances, and digital campaigns, the initiative positions young Africans and Europeans as agents of peace, dialogue, and solidarity.
Its creative use of digital storytelling offers a new, inclusive approach to cross-continental collaboration, proving that art remains a powerful bridge between societies.
Natiora Defenders (Madagascar)
Project: Reinforcement of Youth-Led Environmental Initiatives and Collaboration between Europe and Africa
In Madagascar, Natiora Defenders is driving environmental change through youth empowerment.
The project aims to connect young conservationists across Africa and Europe, fostering knowledge exchange and joint environmental action.
A key outcome of the project will be the Green Talent Hub, an interactive digital platform mapping youth-led environmental initiatives and promoting cross-border collaboration.
Complementary activities include a podcast series that shares local conservation stories and a video collaboration featuring a French influencer living in Madagascar, highlighting the island’s Ocean Defenders.
Through storytelling and digital engagement, Natiora Defenders demonstrates how youth leadership and innovation can unite communities around climate action and biodiversity protection.
Stowelink Foundation (Kenya)
Project: NCDs 365 Project Phase 5 – Africa–Europe Collaboration
Health innovation takes centre stage with Kenya’s Stowelink Foundation, which continues to lead efforts in tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Through its NCDs 365 Project Phase 5, Stowelink expands its flagship initiative into a cross-continental collaboration linking African and European youth.
The project promotes youth leadership in health advocacy, hosting digital dialogues, storytelling campaigns, and interactive video sessions on the NCDs 365 App.
It aims to engage over 50,000 participants across continents, amplifying the importance of health equity and shared responsibility.
By leveraging digital tools and storytelling, Stowelink Foundation is transforming youth engagement in global health and building stronger bridges between Africa and Europe’s health ecosystems.
Femme Incroyable ASBL (Angola/Belgium)Project: Voices of Change: Youth Empowering Women Across Angola and Belgium
Femme Incroyable ASBL embodies the spirit of cross-border collaboration.
Operating between Angola and Belgium, the organisation’s Voices of Change initiative connects young people to champion women’s empowerment and gender equality ahead of the AU-EU Summit.
The project features a storytelling and art competition, cross-border youth dialogues, and a multimedia campaign that highlights women’s resilience and leadership.
Selected stories will be published in a bilingual e-book, to be launched in Luanda and Brussels, symbolising unity and shared advocacy between African and European women.
By empowering women through creativity and dialogue, Femme Incroyable contributes to reshaping narratives and ensuring that women’s voices influence the Africa–Europe partnership agenda.
Highlights from Europe
While the spotlight shines on Africa, the European winners also showcased exceptional creativity and partnership spirit, reinforcing the Award’s cross-continental mission.
Youthmakers Hub (Greece) launched “Your Voice, Your Road”- a campaign amplifying youth voices through the AU–EU Youth Voices Lab App and youth-led policy dialogues.
Live Love Africa (France) led Live Love Marseille- a creative media initiative uniting youth across continents to tell stories of impact in climate action and entrepreneurship.
Sustainable Cooperation for Peace & Security A.P.S. E.T.S. (Italy) spearheaded Youth Voices for the AU-EU Partnership, highlighting Ethiopian youth contributions to peace and security.
The Danish Youth Council (Denmark) delivered Collaborate-African and Danish Youth Engaged to Create Sustainable Change, promoting democracy and civic participation across borders.
These projects reflect Europe’s commitment to the Africa-Europe dialogue -building on shared goals and collective action.
Looking Ahead: Youth Leading the Road to Luanda
As the #RoadtoLuanda25 campaign gathers momentum, the 2025 Youth Awards reaffirm that young people are not just participants in the Africa–Europe partnership, they are its driving force.
The African awardees, in particular, have proven that innovation and collaboration know no borders. From health to climate, from peacebuilding to gender equality, they are redefining how two continents work together for a sustainable and equitable future.
Their creativity, courage, and commitment remind us that Africa’s youth are not waiting for the future to happen; they are actively building it, one project, one story, and one partnership at a time.
