Young Leaders for development

• EDD participation year: 2015
• Country: Cameroon

Born in 1990, Birwe did his primary and secondary education in a small village called Moulvoudaye in north Cameroon. In 2015, he completed his Master’s Degree in Social sciences from the University of Lille 3 and now he is pursuing his PhD in Human Geography at the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne. He was twice awarded a prize for the international essay competition « Concours Regard Croisés » organized by la Francophonie about culture and sustainable development in September 2012 and October 2013. He also attended the 2013 UNESCO international youth Forum in Paris.

Thanks to academic and personal opportunities, Birwe has shared his daily life with migrants in several countries such as Senegal, France, Poland and Belgium. After much experiences in migration and intercultural co-existence, he decided to form an association to promote intercultural dialogue and defend the human rights of migrants in 2015. For two years now, the association « Migration Pour Tous » has organized different events throughout the world, especially many large debates in Lyon (France) and Dakar (Senegal) on illegal African migration to Europe.

In May 2015, he has been selected by the European commission among the 14 Future Leaders who shared their views and experiences in the forum’s high-level debates during the European Development Days 2015 (EDD). In this framework, he met and debated with global leaders such as the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the head of European diplomacy, Her Excellency Frederica Mogherini. In September 2015, he was invited by the United Nations to attend the global summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in New York. Recently in May 2016, he was nominated to Forbes 30 Under 30 Africa (Francophone Africa).