Young Leaders of Mauritania Headed to Washington to Meet President Barack Obama

U.S. Ambassador Mark Boulware congratulates the three Mauritanian delegates who will attend President Barack Obama’s Forum with Young African Leaders in Washington, D.C. from August 3rd to 5th, 2010.

The three delegates will join 120 other young leaders aged 20-35 from across the continent to meet and discuss their ideas for the future of Africa.  The two-and-one-half day forum is intended to strengthen their networks with each other as well as with official and non-official Americans The highlight of the conference will be a “town hall” style question and answer session with President Barack Obama on August 3rd. The President will host a discussion focused on the outlook for Africa’s next fifty years, engaging in an exchange with participants regarding their aspirations for transformational change. 

The leaders chosen for the forum represent the great diversity of Mauritania. Ely Cheikh Ahmed Telba, from Nouakchott, is preparing his doctoral thesis and teaches English at the University of Nouakchott; and he is also Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Peace Newspaper. Madina Athie, also from Nouakchott, is Technical Coordinator for the National Forum for Human Rights (FONADH). Mkhaitratt Mohamed Vall Mabrouk, from Tidjikja, is an Administrator in the Mayor’s Office there.

The focus of the forum will remain on the experience and insights each country delegation brings in break-out sessions on such topics as transparency and accountability, job creation, rights advocacy and use of technology in community activism.  After the town hall, participants will visit the Peace Corps for peer-to-peer discussion with Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Africa on the mobilization of youth and communities via social entrepreneurship and civic engagement in Africa. Divided into small groups, delegates will also visit community service organizations in Washington, DC to demonstrate how service is part of the culture of leadership.

(Photo) U.S. Ambassador Mark Boulware congratulates the three Mauritanian delegates who will attend President Barack Obama’s Forum with Young African Leaders in Washington, D.C. from August 3rd to 5th, 2010. From left to right, Madina Athie, National Forum for Human Rights (FONADH); Ambassador Mark Boulware; Ely Cheikh Bah Ahmed Tolba, Peace Newspaper; and Mkhaitratt Mohamed Vall Mabrouk, Mayor’s Office, Tidjikja.