Mbombela, Friday 28 February 2025 – The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), in collaboration with the University of Mpumalanga (UMP), is proud to host the 19th Africa Young Graduates and Scholars (AYGS) Conference. The conference will take place on the UMP Mbombela campus in Mbombela, South Africa, from 4 to 6 March 2025.
Under the theme “Enabling Africa’s Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities,” the conference will bring together over 100 young and emerging scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from across different regions of Africa to share research-based insights and collaborate on solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges.
“We are excited to provide a platform for Africa’s next generation of leaders to engage, share knowledge, and shape the continent’s future. The AYGS Conference has the potential to contribute significantly to Africa’s developmental trajectory, and we look forward to fostering innovative solutions, enhancing capacity, and informing policy decisions with research-based insights,” said Dr Sabelo Gumedze, Executive Head at the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), the HSRC’s Africa-focused research division.
Similar thoughts were shared by Prof Aldo Stroebel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Internationalisation at UMP, who said that the university was privileged to partner with the HSRC and other prominent stakeholders to engage and strengthen an opportunity framework for emerging scholars through critical thinking and policy impact. “UMP benefits from this convening to further advance our focus on sustainability and innovation, building a strong base of intellectual engagement, international networks, and learning,” added Prof Stroebel.
The conference will feature sessions on the following topics:
- Advancing Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security
- Governance, Peace, and Security in Enabling Africa’s Inclusive and Sustainable Development
- Climate Change Action and Just Transition
- Resilience and Adaptation in Agriculture
- Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Drive Africa’s Development Priorities
More than 30 papers will be presented by scholars from over 15 countries, including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The annual AYGS conference is a research capacity-building project which was conceived in 2005 with the aim of building a body of knowledge and to project the African ‘voice’ into various global discussions. It is further intended to bridge the existing gap of expertise in knowledge production on African affairs by developing a society of knowledge producers among the youth.
The conference, which features a comprehensive programme including a pre-conference training workshop on policy-engaged research and open science, is hosted by the HSRC’s AISA in collaboration with the UMP, the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre, the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR), and other key partners.
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For media enquiries:
| Dr Lucky Ditaunyane, Cell: +27 83 227 6074 Email: lditaunyane@hsrc.ac.za | Adziliwi Nematandani Cell: +27 82 765 9191 Email: anematandani@hsrc.ac.za | Tlangelani Ubisi Cell: +27 76 245 9934 Email: tlangelani.ubisi@ump.ac.za |
Notes to the editor
About the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
The HSRC was established in 1968 as South Africa’s statutory research agency and has grown to become the largest dedicated research institute in the social sciences and humanities on the African continent, doing cutting-edge public research in areas that are crucial to development.
Our mandate is to inform the effective formulation and monitoring of government policy; to evaluate policy implementation; to stimulate public debate through the effective dissemination of research-based data and fact-based research results; to foster research collaboration; and to help build research capacity and infrastructure for the human sciences.
The Council conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific research for public sector users, non-governmental organisations and international development agencies. Research activities and structures are closely aligned with South Africa’s national development priorities.
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