Examining the State of African Youth issues in the context of the realisation of the Demographic Dividend.

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A report on the principal issues being faced by African Youth today from an accountability perspective, to create transparency, spark dialogue and inspire action.

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Youth are widely recognised as playing a vital role in the development of Africa. The theory of the “Demographic Dividend” however can never be realised unless basic and complex challenges that African youth face now are addressed, and in a sustainable and high-quality manner. The idea of the Demographic Dividend is that the youth are a resource that can be harnessed for development.

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Given that almost half of Africans today in mid-2017 are under the age of 19, it certainly does seem that we have a large resource to be tapped if we are able to realise this possibility. Added to the growth of the population, is the rapid economic growth (relatively to other parts of the globe) and one could imagine that this “bonus” might not only spark development but sustain it in the long-term. However, this dividend has not yet even begun to be realised. Political, economic and social barriers to development, equality and even basic human rights are plentiful across the continent. Various commitments, for example the Common African Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, demonstrate the high level political will to commit to such promises. What however remains to be seen is whether the commitment can be realised at community level. Whether high level commitments can be turned into policy,  programming, implementation and impact at country level.

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The African Youth Charter, a political and legal framework adopted in 2006, provides a critical legal and political framework and outlines practical steps towards improving education, skills and sustainable livelihoods and good health, as well as poverty eradication (African Union, 2011) (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2011),
and the African Youth Decade Plan of Action (2009-2018) which aims to ensure the development of regional and national action plans and a road map of the Youth Charter, remain important but as of yet unrealised commitments.

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This report aims to provide an update on the 2015 State of the African Youth Report, an important analysis on the issues being faced by youth in Africa. Building on this momentum of the first report, AAI hopes that this report adds a sense of urgency to the issues at hand, and thus the title “The Urgency We Need”. We hope this report is useful to the reader as a means to create greater transparency around youth related data and information, that it stimulates dialogue and solution building and that real action is taken to ensure the commitments become more than mere rhetoric.

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AIDS Accountability International State of the African Youth Report 2nd Edition Digital

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Read the report as a flipbook here

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For information on this report, please contact info at aidsaccountability.org