DILI, 28 august 2024 (TATOLI) – One of the Timorese youths, Pascoela Joana Branco, known as “Ella” has been directly appointed by the European Union (EU) to take part in 11 youth from ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste to serve on the Youth Sounding Board for the EU in ASEAN (YSBEA).
Pascoela Joana Branco “Ella”, a dedicated young leader from Timor-Leste, to serve on the YSBEA for the 2024-2025 period. Composed of young leaders from the 10 ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste, the YSBEA is expected to enhance youth engagement in EU-ASEAN cooperation as a youth advisory group to EU delegations.
Pascoela’s participation in YSBEA highlights the importance of youth leadership in addressing one of the longstanding issues, human rights. Learning from her experience as co-founder of Gen-Z Talk Timor-Leste, the main challenges in protecting human rights in Timor-Leste are the lack of awareness about basic rights and the abuse of power by influential individuals.
“As part of the Youth Sounding Board for the EU in ASEAN, I look forward to working with the EU Delegation to ASEAN and other YSBEA members to better strategize our advocacy efforts and raise awareness about the issues we see in our region,” Pascoela made a statement in a press release that is accessed by TATOLI today.
As a YSBEA member, Pascoela aims to inspire and empower other young leaders across the region to advocate for human rights. She also hopes to work with other YSBEA members to find better ways to raise awareness and support marginalized and vulnerable communities.
Until the end of 2025, these selected groups will engage in a series of online and offline consultations with the EU Delegation to ASEAN on youth-related policies.
Globally, YSBEA is one of 30 Youth Sounding Board groups established by other EU delegations around the world as part of the Youth Action Plan (YAP) for EU external action.
YAP serves as the EU’s guiding framework to promote meaningful youth participation and empowerment globally for sustainable development, equality, and peace. It focuses on three core action areas: engaging, connecting, and empowering. YAP is a timely endeavor to engage young people in EU external action.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
