State of African Youth Report Foreword
State of African Youth Report Foreword In 2016, African Member States agreed to dedicate the year 2017 to the youth of Africa under the theme “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in Youth”. This decision reinforced the commitment of Member States to Aspiration 6 “An Africa where development is people-driven, unleashing the potential of its women and youth” of the African Union Agenda 2063 with emphasis on the aspiration that young Africans are engaged and empowered. With the mandate from the heads of State and Governments, the African Union Commission (AUC) and other partners developed a roadmap that will guide the implementation of the continental initiative through programmes, activities, establish key milestones and concrete actions. Bearing in mind that Africa has the youngest population, and the youth population is estimated to grow exponentially, the youth demography presents to the continent a huge dividend to be harnessed for socio-economic transformation. As a result, the roadmap was built on 4 thematic pillars: Pillar 1: Employment and Entrepreneurship, Pillar 2: Education and Skills Development, Pillar 3: Health and Wellbeing, and Pillar 4: Rights, Governance and Youth Empowerment). These pillars were developed with accompanying actions and deliverables to assess implementation and progress. Under the leadership of the African Union Commission (AUC), this State of African Youth Report was developed as a synopsis the progress and achievements Member States have made on the 4 pillars agreed on in the roadmap. This report also critically analyses achievements in the 4 pillars using indicators developed in consultation with National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and data provided by Member States, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), development partners such as UNstats, International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Inter-Parliamentary Union for each of the pillars.
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