The 3rd Pan African Youth Conference on African Unity and Development and the Annual General Assembly Meeting of the African Youth Commission (AYC) that took place from 23-27th March 2019 in Banjul, The Gambia under the theme: ‘The Future Is Now; Youth are Not Too Young to Lead’. The Conference was co-organized by The Gambia National Youth Council and the AYC Secretariat in partnership with Government of The Gambia, UN System in The Gambia, Kanifing Municipal Council, The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Child Fund International The Gambia.
Objective
The overall objective of the conference was to:
- Create a youth-led open space for young people to interact, promote Pan Africanism and participate in the implementation of African Unity project.
- Inspire and encourage active youth leadership and participation in social, economic and political spheres at all levels.
- Dialogue and interact with policy makers to amplify youth voices in policy and decision making processes.
- Encourage youth-led action on curbing cross-border youth irregular migration and Children on the move in Africa.
- Empower children and young women to make their voices heard in policy and Decision making processes.
- Connect, build alliances and the capacity of youth to influence policies and Practices of their National Governments, the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and other youth development actors on the African continent.
Among the key important Agendas discussed were:
Intergenerational roundtable discussion on theme: ‘’The Future is Now, Youth are Not too Young to Lead’: Intergenerational roundtable discussion on theme: ‘’The Future is Now, Youth are Not too Young to Lead’’ – What are we doing to leverage the potential and capacity of African youth to increase inclusion and representation of young people in governance (civic, economic, political, digital and environmental spaces) in Africa
Improving youth political participation through proper implementation at ACDEG: Youth political participation across the continent has been accepted means and an ends to ensuring meaningful development and ripping the demographic dividend of the youth population in Africa. However, there have been lackluster attitude among various African countries when it comes to creating youth spaces for civic and political engagement and participation in development processes and decision-making bodies and structures. There is scholarly evident however, that the implementation of the principles and values of the charter will ensure meaning youth and women political participation as part of the charter’s objectives is to ensure equal participation in governance and development, and state parties have the responsibilities creating the with environment with the participation of the concern groups
Launching of the U-REPORT The GAMBIA; The Gambia has a population of approximately 2.1 million, with 58 percent below 24 years. It is important for their voices to be heard in the re-building of the new Gambia, and this can be achieved by creating a safe space for democratic and social engagement between the youth and their leaders.
U-Report is a social messaging tool for youth that amplifies their voice to influence decision and policy making processes. U-Report is present in 54 countries and with more than 6,500,000 registered users worldwide. U-Report is to be launched in The Gambia. Through regular polls, the opinions, thoughts and feedback of The Gambian youth and community members on different issues are used for strategic decision-making, assessment of situation in communities, and to increase the involvement and participation of youth in development processes.
The launch of the U-Report will be graced by the government, youth, community people, development partners, and private sector actors. The U-Report will be launched officially by the Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructures- Honorable Ebrima Sillah
Panel discussion with political and youth leaders: Sub-regional, Continental and Global strategies for Youth inclusion and participation in Africa’s integration using AU Agenda 2063 and UN 2030 SDGs as a spring board – Are we doing enough?
The Future of Work and Jobs in Africa: As the world of work continues to transform, it is imperative to reflect on number of questions including: What is the future of work for youth? What do young men and women desire the most from their jobs? Is it a good pay? Becoming top managers? Or rather flexibility in their working time and place? Which sectors remain under explored yet have potential for youth employment? What are the skills needed to respond to the existing labour market requirements? In Africa, the number of unemployed young men and women is still growing and opportunities in ‘traditional’ forms of work are decreasing due to a number of factors, including low productivity; the collapse of the commodity boom; skills gaps; global competition; and the adoption of new technologies.
Youth in politics: Interparty Youth Dialogue by National Youth Parliament of The Gambia
Breaking The Silence in Reproductive Health Issues, Contraception and Gender Based Violence; Youth Entrepreneurship and access to health services: Closing Skills gap for better health system in Africa by OAFRESS, UCD and YWA/Senegal.
Education for Justice (E4J) Youth Side Event: Governance and Empowerment, Youth Participation and Leadership by United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC).
Training on Diplomatic Simulation on Irregular Migration by ICYF; Migration is the most remarkable phenomenon in the course of relations between rich and poor countries and sow broad division between them. This raises new questions which should encourage states to consider the direct and indirect consequences of migration and the opportunities it provides
Movers and Shakers of The Gambia: Now more than ever, stakeholders around the continent are coming together to address youth unemployment and combat irregular migration. In this critical period, we must be able to showcase to the youth that #TekkiFii is possible—succeeding at home without having to resort to irregular migratory routes. This side event exhibit featured seven “movers and shakers” of The Gambia—beneficiaries of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s reintegration support for returning migrants and the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)’s entrepreneurship and skills training programs. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear the testimonies of these seven inspiring individuals, who have bravely overcome their own hardships and struggles..
ICPD25 Talks by UNFPA: This ICPD focused plenary was to mark twenty-five years since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. This signature plenary raised awareness on progress that has been made since ICPD in 1994 and ICPD+20 as well as a call to action to accelerate actions towards delivering transformation for individual dignity and human rights for all, leaving no-one behind in Africa as part of realizing sustainable development.
This session was aimed at being a call to action for young people to take up their roles in delivering on the Pan African sustainable development and transformation collective vision. Governance and accountability are the primary means of achieving all goals espoused in the ICPD plan of action as well as the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063. Many African countries continue to struggle acutely from governance deficits. Some of these include maladministration, corruption and economic crime, weak legislative environments to safeguard human rights, poor law enforcement, adverse institutionalized inequalities and inadequate political will to invest in harnessing the demographic dividend. These governance deficits have proven to be very expensive in monetary terms and also in livelihoods, human capital and dignity. The young people are the most affected by these because they are the majority demographic of the African population. It is therefore befitting that youth should play a leading role in rectifying these governance deficits and holding leaders and Governments, alike all relevant stakeholders, accountable for creating an enabling governance environment for progress. The session explored some best examples of where youth leadership has played a pivotal and instrumental role in uplifting the ideals of good/ progressive governance and fostering a culture of citizen led accountability. Panelists were youth who have lived experiences of working to attain the above mentioned ideals. They shared their experiences and their recommendations going forward on how young people in African can better mobilize and organize to effect the change they wish to see.
This session also focused on showcasing ideal examples of youth leaders who are transforming lives in their respective spheres of influence, taking the baton of being the change they want to see and leading by example in actions that are aligned to the sustainable development agenda. These are young people who took it upon their social responsibility to challenge the status quo and embark on advocacy efforts. Their work is inspirational and epitomizes the kind of African Leadership we aspire to see leading our transformative agenda. These are amazing young leaders who have saved lives, influenced changing legislation, compromised their lives in their pursuit of social justice and have gone boldly and fearlessly in the direction of their dreams.
Roles of Youth in Creating Urban Decent & Sustainable Jobs in Africa: Young urban dwellers (including all citizens) have the right to safe drinking water; adequate sanitation; affordable and clean energy; safe transport; quality and affordable education, healthcare and housing; access road and security. All these go hand-in-hand with economic growth, social inclusion, poverty reduction and equality. Notably, the right to safe, decent and sustainable jobs play pivotal role in enabling the achievement of most rights of urban citizens. Almost all the other services are dependent on a function of the consumers’ ability to afford the services. Of course, young people count for high proportion of users. Therefore, to cope with urban stress, maintain an adequate standard of living and quality of life, young people need decent jobs and good wages to be able to afford these services. Not only as job seekers but as well as job creators. Transitioning towards more sustainable and resilient urbanization (SDG 11, 6, 7, 4) requires an integrated approach that recognizes that the challenge of youth unemployment and the solutions (SDG 8) thereof are interrelated. Furthermore, key aspects of decent work are widely embedded in the target of the 16 goals of the United Nation’s new development vision and Africa Agenda 2063.