The Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V) Youth and Leadership in the 21 st Century - CONCEPT

The Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V) Youth and Leadership in the 21 st Century
16 - 18 November 2006 UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Concept paper

Overview:

Africa is a continent of the young, with more than 60% of the total population below the age of 25. Any serious policy for social, political and economic development in Africa must recognize the importance of young people, especially in promoting social progress, reducing political tension and maximizing economic performance. The pace, depth and scope of any society's development depend on how well its youth resources are nurtured, deployed and utilised. Unlike other continents, Africa's population is becoming more youthful, with youth as a proportion of the total population projected at over 75% by 2015, due to the high fertility rate underlying the demographic momentum. Currently, youth account for 45% of the total labour force in Africa; hence, the need for Africa's development efforts to reflect this demographic fact.
A youthful population has several potential advantages for national socio-economic development. The social advantages provided by youth include a greater degree of mobility, versatility, openness, adaptability and tolerance. In economic terms, youth provide dynamism in the supply of labour required for faster economic growth. Since youth consumption is generally related to basic needs, for example in housing, a youthful population also provides opportunities for mass production and hence economies of scale required for the development of local industrial and commercial enterprises. Furthermore, where the appropriate mechanisms exist, youthful population can provide a support base for social security systems. Above all, development of a country depends on the creativity of its population. Youth are known to be more creative and innovative than the adult population, and in several areas of development such as in community development, peace building, IT, and HIV/AIDS education youth are already playing catalytic roles in Africa. However, on the whole youth are generally marginalized in national economic, social and political structures.
In 2000 over 200 of the world's political leaders, including African leaders, made a declaration that ushered in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Though only Goal 8 of the MDGs specifically mentions young persons, the remaining seven goals directly or indirectly relate to them. Thus at least from the perspective of the MDGs, Africa's young people are tremendously important. However, older people including policy makers, appear not to know much about them- despite their numbers and despite the historical contribution of young people and youth movements to Africa's political history. Even the term 'youth' gives rise to confusion and conflicting images-some see youth as a threat to the established order while others focus on young people as the hope for the future. However, no young person is simply 'future potential' and a receptacle for learning. They are active and contemporary social, political and economic actors in themselves, and need to be sufficiently involved in Africa's development processes.
The scandal of child soldiers in Africa's conflicts, for example, cannot be understood without recognizing that the vast majority of these soldiers are young people who could be readily mobilized by leaders for productive action but instead are left wandering in the streets of African capitals without meaningful engagement. Additionally, the HIV/AIDS pandemic-Africa's number one threat to survival-cannot be overcome without a focus on youth, because they account for the largest proportion of its victims.
Youths are not typically conceived of as productive and constructive social actors, but rather as potential sources of political disruption, delinquency and criminality. Yet, pre-independence social and political movements were often led by young people who defined themselves as 'youth' to provide dynamic support to the leadership of the freedom and independence movements or in opposition to their elders who were supposedly content to be cronies of the colonial regimes. Some political parties were explicitly organized around youth.
The decision to devote the Fifth African Development Forum to youth emanates from the frank acknowledgement by various African development stakeholders that political stability, social solidification, and economic prosperity lie in harnessing the capacities of the youth.
Whilst youth has become a global issue, the situation of youth in Africa- characterized by embarrassingly high levels of unemployment and underemployment, exodus to other continents, involvement in violent political and social conflicts, etc.- is critical and requires strategic regional and national action.
Globally, youth concerns have been receiving increasing attention. The World Bank, for example, is devoting its 2007 edition of the World Development Report to youth under the theme, "Development and the Next Generation".
Within the UN system in 1995 youth issues were debated in the General Assembly leading to the World Programme of Action on Youth (WPAY). The ILO's 93 rd Session of the International Labour Conference in June 2005, where pathways to decent work for youth and the role of the international community in advancing the youth employment agenda were discussed . In October 2005, following the review of progress on the implementation of the WPAY, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (RES/60/2) reaffirming WPAY, which among other things:
• Called upon Governments to develop, in consultation with youth organisations, holistic and integrated youth policies based on WPAY,
• Requested the Regional Commissions to organise regional consultations with Member States and youth organisations in order to evaluate the implementation of the WPAY, and
• Called upon organisations, programmes and specialised agencies in the UN system to enhance inter-agency arrangements on youth policies and programmes with a view to improving coordination and enhancing synergies among relevant system activities in this regard.
The African Union Summit held in Khartoum in January 2006 by the decision of the Executive Council (EX.CL/Dec.273) underscored the need to restore hope and confidence to African youth and defined conditions that will enable them play a greater role in African development. In July 2006, The AU Summit held in Banjul by the decision of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government ((AU/Dec.13 (VII)) adopted the new African Youth Charter that is now ready for signature and ratification from member states.
At the national level several countries have also initiated attempts to develop national youth policies. However, the policy deficiencies in youth development and the gap between the situation of youth in Africa and the realization of the potential contribution of youth towards the achievement of the objectives of development on the continent warrants deeper soul-searching, which would lead to better concerted efforts in developing our youth at all levels.
Vision Statement
The vision of the Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V) is to endow African youth with material resources, skills, and intergenerational synergies, which would enable them contribute maximally to the democratic, gender-equal, peaceful and rights-based development of Africa.
The Forum, as a multi-stakeholder platform for debating, discussing and initiating concrete strategies for Africa's development, will be organised under the theme " Youth and Leadership in the 21 st Century", from November 16-18, 2006, by the Economic Commission for Africa jointly with its strategic regional partner, the Africa Union and in collaboration with other stakeholders in African development.
Objectives of ADF-V
The immediate objective of ADF-V is to fulfill the requirements of UNGA Resolution 60/2 of October 2005, by providing a platform for regional consultations and discussions on key issues affecting youth with Member States, UN agencies, civil society as well as African youth, with the view to evaluating progress towards the objectives of the WPAY, notably, the development of holistic and integrated youth development policies in member states and the enhancement of synergies among stakeholders including UN system agencies for youth development in Africa.
The ultimate objective of ADF-V is to deepen strategies at the regional and national levels for translating the potential of youth as a development asset into practical benefits for Africa's democratic, gender-equal, peaceful and rights-based development, in line with the objectives of the proposed African Union Youth Charter, NEPAD and internationally agreed development goals including MDGs.
A regional platform on youth development is necessary for a number of reasons. African countries face the same type of crisis of youth: limited access to (quality) education; unemployment; the threat of HIV/AIDS; conflict and post-conflict woes; social, political and economic exclusion; etc. The inter-twinning nature of youth issues across national borders, for example, youth migration, provides potential economies of scale in a joint regional policy making process.
Past ADFs have helped generate innovative ideas for advancing strategic issues affecting Africa's development such as national ICT policies (from ADF 1999) and HIV/AIDS research (from ADF 2000). ADF-V will provide the mechanism for articulating emerging concerns of youth and developing consensus regarding the solutions.
Specifically, ADF-V will:
• Develop strategies for the operationalisation and hence synergetic support for the implementation of the objectives of the proposed African Union Youth Charter, which will lead to new and or more comprehensive national youth policies reflecting the aspirations of youth collated through national consultations;
• Build partnerships, renew impetus, and deepen commitment to youth development, including the establishment of knowledge networks for sharing information and best practices on meeting the challenges of youth, especially challenges facing girls and young women, and
• Offer an opportunity for African youth to dialogue with key personalities as a launching pad for a youth voice at the continental level.
Definition of Youth for ADF-V
Governmental and non-governmental organisations alike have long faced difficulties in dealing with youth, partly because the child-adult dichotomy divides their focus either onto younger children or onto adults, and partly because of the problematic indeterminacy of the category 'youth'.
There are chronological definitions of youth, political definitions, and socio-cultural definitions. However, most official definitions are largely arbitrary. The United Nation's Department of Economic and Social Affairs defines youth as those persons aged between 18 and 24 years. However, in several African countries youth is defined to include lower ages such as 12 and higher ages such as 35. The AU in the adopted African Youth Charter defines youth as those persons aged between 15 to 35 years. This definition will be adopted for the purpose of ADF-V.
ADF-V Work Programme
The ADF-V Work Programme will revolve around the concept of youth as an asset in development. It will aim at developing approaches for maximising the contribution of youth to African development, with a focus on three principal pillars: 1) Youth as a base for economic development; 2) Youth as a dynamic force for social transformation and progress; and 3) Youth as a factor for change in governance and political development in Africa.
Deliberations will be clustered around these pillars, under the following subject areas or sub-themes:
Cluster 1: Youth and Economic Development
(Topics: Education and skills; employment and migration; entrepreneurship; ICT; health and HIV/AIDS; environment and sustainable livelihood; and participation in national economic policy decision-making)
Cluster 2: Youth and Social Development
(Topics : Culture and intergenerational relations; girls and young women; young people and children ; youth in the religious setting; young people and urban Africa; volunteerism; and participation in social transformation)
Cluster 3: Youth and Political Development
(Topics: Characterisation and definition of youth; Africa identity and citizenship; young people in the Diaspora; conflict resolution and peace building; and participation in democratic, rights-based and gender-equal development)
Outline of Thematic Sessions: objectives, sub-themes and issues
Cluster 1: Youth and Economic Development
• Young People, Education and Life Skills
It is estimated that about 133 million young people (more than 50% of the youth population) in Africa are illiterate. Instead of being in school more than 300,000 children serve rebel movements as bush soldiers. Many young people have little or no skills and are excluded from productive economic and social life, existing without hope and without support. Those that have some education exhibit skills irrelevant to current demand in the labour market, in a situation where educational and skill requirements are increasing, resulting in millions of unemployed and underemployed youth. The problem is compounded by continuing decline in real public expenditures on education and training in the face of high population growth.
The need to improve the quality of education and training for the youth cannot be over-emphasised. There is also a need for technical and vocational programmes for out-of-school youth. Technological awareness, problem-solving and scientific approaches in curriculum delivery must be the bedrock of education and training. Above all, access to education has to be expanded, especially for marginalized youth- notably, rural youth, the physically challenged, and isolated ethnic communities.
This session will focus on two broad objectives, namely, a) to review best practices in expanding educational access to young people, especially programmes and activities (including financing strategies) aimed at assisting disadvantaged youth "catch up" with their counterparts elsewhere; and b) to review best practices that improve the quality of education at all levels, especially those helping youth develop their creative skills. The issues to be deliberated upon include: What approaches need to be adopted and implemented towards helping the youth of Africa develop their human capital to meet the challenges of national and regional development in a technology and skill intensive world system? How can Africa sustain its long-term development and improve its competitiveness if it is not able to install an effective educational programmes that constantly inform her young people, equip them with the requisite skills, and develop their creative abilities?
It is expected that the outcomes of the session will contribute to the implementation of the AU Second Decade of Education for Africa (2006-2015).
2) Young People, Employment and Migration
The incidence of youth unemployment in Africa is over 20%, not counting the larger proportion of young people that are underemployed and eke out a living from indecent jobs. The rising hopelessness in the job situation facing African youth has forced an increasing proportion of them to risk their lives crossing dangerous paths and waters- over the Sahara and the Atlantic- in order to reach better pastures in Europe and America. ADF-V will attempt to examine the root causes of the lack of concerted action against youth joblessness, why African countries have been slow in joining the UN Secretary-General's Youth Employment Network, which seeks to assist UN member states to develop programmes for enhancing youth employment around the world, why are youth not being informed effectively about the opportunities in their own countries, what youth who resist the temptation to go abroad are doing to generate jobs for themselves and for others, and what lessons can be learnt from their experiences.
In order to address the issues of youth employment and migration, there is a need to examine youth transitions from the employment perspective- school, entering the labour market, remaining unemployed, and the unemployment-re-training-employment transition. Lack of careful attention and support for youth during these transitions plays a large role in determining their employment experiences. Another issue that requires attention is the provision of information, relating to both national and international labour markets, to facilitate decision making on the part of youth seeking employment. There is also the issue of systematically building the skills of young people systematically through internships, job attachments and volunteer work. Finally, what jobless youth do to sustain themselves and the implications of this for various dimensions of socio-economic development, including, health and HIV/AIDS, crime and violence, environmental degradation needs to be addressed.
The fight against poverty can be won if youth joblessness can be tackled head-on. There is ample evidence to show that inter-generational poverty- poverty from parents to children- is the main contributor to chronic poverty in Africa. A way therefore, must be found to break the poverty transfer cycle by facilitating employment, especially for vulnerable young people. Furthermore it has been shown that employment history at the early stages of entry into the labour market does affect individual performance in later life in terms of employment and income status.
The Forum will therefore document best practices in generating sustainable youth employment, and seek to identify the positive linkages between youth migration and youth employment and poverty reduction from which to develop coherent youth employment policies and programmes. It is expected that outcomes of this session will lead to partnerships in support of the formulation and the implementation of decent jobs policies and programmes in African countries.
• Young People and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship starts from youth. Where support systems exist, the work of young entrepreneurs flourish and society benefits from their creativity and innovation. In Africa most young people end their dreams at the level of single-shop operations or in queues for government jobs. This tendency arises largely from the many limitations to the development of the business creativity of youth in Africa. There are, however, some cases of successful young entrepreneurs in Africa. What lessons can we learn from these successful young entrepreneurs? What message can they share with their peers?
The session on young people and entrepreneurship will review documentation on interventions aimed at developing young people for success in entrepreneurship and self-employment. The focus will be on the elements of their innovative and creative skills, and the type of support required to effectively develop these competencies and to build capacity for replication. Some of the issues to be examined include: What are youth doing to generate employment for themselves? What support are they getting? What are the best practices and lessons to be learnt? What factors inhibit the development and utilization of youth creativity? How can these be addressed at the national and regional level?
• Young People and ICT
The role of ICT in developing and utilizing the creative and productive potential of young people has been articulated in initiatives such as the World Summit on the Information Society and the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). New technologies can be used to unleash creativity, innovation, better education, entrepreneurship, decent employment and leadership among young people. As a tool, ICTs can foster youth leadership . Already ICT has been deployed to assist in peace building by youth in some communities in Africa.
Youth have been observed worldwide to be reliable and effective agents of technological change and harbingers of the information age, bringing existing and emerging technologies into the communities or sectors where lack of access to information has undermined and constrained development. Equipping youth with IT skills, creating an enabling environment for ICT innovations, entrepreneurship and employment, promoting their utilisation in policy-formulation, and in production, consumption and exchange can go a long way to catapult Africa over the digital divide and bring her into the global information society.
The focus of ADF-V session on Youth and ICT is to elaborate an enabling environment for youth leadership in all spheres of life through the deployment of ICT. The main issues for discussion will include: How to harness and spread ICT for quality youth education? How has ICT promoted youth education on the continent? What lessons can we draw from existing programmes and policies? In what ways can youth employment and entrepreneurship be enhanced by ICT deployment? How are the youth involved in the digital economy? How are the youth leading and pioneering ICT initiatives in the countries? What specific elements does ICT policy and regulatory environment need in order to promote youth SMMEs ? Are there policies regarding technology parks and business incubations? What is the role of the public, private, and international organizations? How can best practices from other regions be adapted to the Africa environment? What capacity building in research and development is needed to create an environment that promotes the involvment of youth in creative innovations? What are the lessons learnt?
It is expected that the outcomes of the session will promote the objectives of the African Youth in ICT for Development Network (AYIN), an offshoot of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
• Young People, Health and HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS is the number one threat to Africa's young people. The median age of infection for women in Africa is in the early twenties, implying that a substantial majority of girls that are HIV positive were infected before they turned 20. Only by focusing on young people will it be possible to halt the HIV/AIDS pandemic. There is much that can be done with young women themselves, both directly (by providing access to sex education, life skills, condoms, microbicides, etc.) and indirectly (by addressing the social environment in which girls and young women live, increasing girl's educational and socio-economic opportunities, and thereby increasing their power and decreasing their reliance on selling or trading sex).
HIV/AIDS is a major item for consideration in this session, but other communicable diseases, including especially sexually-transmitted infections, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse and their health implications, accidents associated with dangerous occupations, violent crime, etc. should not be overlooked.
ADF-V deliberations will aim at articulating youth health concerns, in particular persistent social practices that affect the health of young women; review youth health initiatives; identify key factors explaining successes (or failures) of youth health initiatives; and discuss ways and means for strengthening youth health programmes and youth led health initiatives. This session will focus on interventions for improving the health status of young people and reducing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and the role of young people in implementing these interventions.
6) Young People, Environment and Sustainable Livelihood
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 1992, identified youth as key players in the implementation of the environment and development agenda. Agenda 21, the programme of action for sustainable development that was adopted at the Conference dedicated Chapter 25 to the contribution of children and youth in sustainable development. Further, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002, commits countries and organizations to promoting and supporting youth participation in programmes and activities relating to sustainable development.
Africa faces several environmental challenges: mitigating the effects of drought, reducing the rate of depletion of forest and mineral resources, clearing chemical waste, improving urban sanitation, etc. These challenges cannot be met without the participation of the youth population. The overall objective of the session will be to identify options for strengthening the involvement of youth in sustainable development decision-making and in the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels. Specific issues to be covered include:
• Sustainable development from a youth perspective and how this fits in with the Johannesburg Declaration and the JPOI
• How have youth been involved in the implementation of JPOI and in particular, the Africa chapter of the Plan?
• What are the best practices and lessons learnt by youth in natural resource management?
It is expected that deliberations will, among other things, lead to the i ntegration of youth concerns in decision making pertaining to sustainable development, increased networking among youth active in the field of sustainable development, e stablishing or strengthening partnerships between youth and other stakeholders, and creating a c lear roadmap on the involvement of youth in the sustainable development programmes of ECA and partner organizations.
7) Participation of Young People in Economic Decision-making
Africa's youth feel excluded from policy platforms, even in matters that affect them. The results of this alienation go beyond individual self-esteem. They feel left out on the NEPAD initiative and the implementation of the MDGs. This affects their general sense of citizenship, which explains why the majority of youth would want to leave the continent. For the youth, the problem of economic governance cannot be solved just by allowing them to participate in decision-making, but also requires their inclusion in the distribution of the benefits of social progress.
All over the continent young people are developing platforms among themselves on various development initiatives such as NEPAD, MDG and PRSs; what they need are entry points into national and regional economic policy cycles. The Forum will examine the important role of youth in decision-making, models of participation and lessons and experiences that could guide future initiatives to harness youth for improvement of economic governance in Africa.
Cluster 2: Youth and Social Development
• Culture and Intergenerational Relations
African culture is highly heterogeneous, given her numerous ethnic groupings. One of the characteristics common to all, however, is that they are neither traditional nor modern, but a hybrid of old indigenous systems and foreign legacies of the colonial or imperial past. Hence, according to Nsamenang (2000), youth experiences today are shaped by "acculturative stress" and "behavioural shifts" incidental to the coexistence of the internal (local) and external (foreign) traditions.
The foreign culture's siege on indigenous African traditions is leaving African youth almost without a sense of cultural belongingness, with no embodiment of national or community values to hold on to in the face of the challenges of a global community. Culture is supposed to help society survive and make progress materially, emotionally and spiritually. For the youth of Africa there is a need to examine the apparent failure of African culture to resist external forces- slavery, colonialism and globalisation- and to overcome chronic poverty and underdevelopment; and which positive aspects of "culture" should be preserved.
Another major challenge to youth is the preservation of the "family" in terms of its ability to cater to its members economically, socially and politically. The traditional family is breaking down mainly as a result of economic exigencies. In some areas of Africa major additional threats to the family as well as the community are armed conflict and HIV/AIDS. What is being done to strengthen and support families that find themselves in these situations?
This forum will examine the mechanisms for intergenerational transfer of social values and skills, the issue of youth culture and how it should be nurtured to contribute to national and regional development, and meeting the special needs of Africa's young household heads in conflict and post-conflict areas. The aim of the session will be to document best practices in intergenerational transfer of skills and in youth development in general, define the main elements of African "positive" culture to pass on to the youth, and formulate the framework and action plans to rid the continent of obnoxious traditional practices.
• Girls and Young Women
Men and women experience life differently; men and women do not face the same constraints; they do not have the same options and incentives; and men and women frequently have different priorities and are affected differently by policy and development interventions. In most African societies, girls and young women are subject to socially imposed constraints that dampen their economic and social conditions. Adopting a gender approach in the formulation, programming and planning of development policies means taking into account the productive, social, reproductive and community roles and needs of both young women and men.
While the activities of African girls and young women have not often been the primary focus of research, their roles are nonetheless revealed in many spheres of African life, both past and present. We know, for instance, that household economies are heavily dependent on the labor of African girls, but how this labor is understood, and its effect on other spheres of life- such as the education of girls in the contemporary period and their economic and health prospects in the longer run-is of considerable interest. Young women in developing counties are known to be especially vulnerable to health problems, such as sexually transmitted infections (including HIV) that are compounded by inadequate health care and education, as well as poverty.
Women in general are emerging as leaders in many very contemporary and youthful cultural fields, including art, literature and music as well as in politics. There are many challenges, however. ADF-V will examine interventions that enhance the participation of girls and young women in mainstream socio-economic and political life. The session will also examine the extent to which African countries have implemented commitments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African platform for Action adopted at the 5 th African Conference on Women in Dakar (Senegal), the Beijing Platform for Action, African Charter on Human and People's rights and the Millennium Development Goals with respect to girls and young women. It is expected that the session will develop a clear road map for ridding the continent of traditions and practices that impede the socio-economic progress of girls and young women.
• Young People and Children
Child-focused organizations tend to regard parents (especially mothers) as the key intermediaries for promoting the welfare of children. The pivotal role of mothers cannot be disputed. Young people-a substantial proportion of them children themselves-are also crucial intermediaries. Most African women bear their first child before the age of twenty, and teenage mothers account for about 15-20% of all births, many of who are unemployed and are in unstable relationships. This situation has according to the evidence, adverse consequences for the children. Currently, most programmatic interventions target these young women solely or primarily in their capacity as mothers, without also seeing them as young people embedded in the social networks and sharing the cultural and social attributes of this social group.
Young people relate directly to children. They are role models for children. Young people are older siblings, neighbours, part-time carers, schoolmates and friends to children. The social and cultural environment of non-infant children is strongly influenced by youth subculture, and this influence becomes stronger as children get older. Young people influence the attitudes of younger children about health, education and social norms as well as political development. We cannot expect Africa's children to make progress in these areas unless there is positive influence from young people.
This session will seek out ways to incorporate young people in public policy-making in order to enhance the social development of children in Africa. It is expected that the session will lead to the development of community level programmes to shape the influence of young role models on children.
• Young People and Religion
Religion plays a critical role in human development, according to socio-psychological studies, by building responsible and law-abiding citizenry. African societies are highly religious. But how has religion helped Africa in its development? In particular, how is religion passed on to young people and how do young people respond to religion and utilize the powers of religion to achieve their own economic and social goals in life?
Among the best-studied youth-based social movements in Africa are the evangelical and Pentecostal churches and Islamic movements. These formidable contemporary social movements are marked by a powerful youth orientation, and by the message that personal moral rejuvenation can redeem or transform a corrupt public order. What are the impacts-present and future-of these religious movements on governmental policy-making in Africa? How are we to engage with these religious organizations for social development?
This session will attempt to document best practices in youth development undertaken by various religious groups including traditional religious organizations, discuss ways and means to reduce youth vulnerability to religious extremism, and develop approaches to strengthen the role of religious organizations in national and regional development. It is expected that this session will initiate a draft social-religious code that reflects the principles of human rights, tolerance, transparency and accountability.
• Young People and Urban Africa
The rate of urbanization in Africa is one of the highest, and young people are more likely to move to cities. Whether they partake of the pleasures of urban life, form part of a vast Diaspora network, an increasing number of Africa's youth are choosing the city over the countryside or deliberately straddling the rural-urban divide as they make their way into adulthood. To navigate the opportunities and difficulties of urban life young people need to be economically and socially creative.
ADF-V will explore the symbols, strategies, and tools that youth employ to seek shelter, build self-esteem, make a living, and protect themselves physically and emotionally within and across diverse urban settings. To what extent does the urban landscape frame the choices that particular young people make? What interventions are available to mitigate the likely impact on urban social services and living spaces of the increasing number of youth some of whom have joined gangs or contracted HIV/AIDS? Alternatively, what mechanisms and modes have young people themselves adopted and adapted to confront the challenges of 21 st century urbanism? It is expected that this session will build on the strategic outcomes of the World Urban Youth Forum (Vancouver 2006) in terms of reducing the risks that young people face and enhancing opportunities for the fulfillment of their aspirations in the urban setting.
• Youth Volunteerism
The focus of this session will be on the activity of young persons in the mobilisation of civil energies for development at the community, national and regional level. Most youth programmes are designed to deliver services to young people, abut fail to recognise that youth can assist in delivering services to others, according Susan Shroud and others (Innovations for Civic Participation, 2005). Volunteerism is a mechanism that offers young Volunteering benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. It makes important contributions, economically as well as socially and politially, by facilitating a more cohesive society through building trust and reciprocity among citizens. Yet in Africa the only volunteers we have are foreign nationals. Young Africans have been made to believe that they cannot afford to volunteer.
The absence of volunteerism makes it more difficult to serve the cause of peace, transmit the values of free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity among African people. The exigencies of post-conflict reconstruction in which more than a dozen African states find themselves require that African youth, the most populous and the most energetic demographic group, be mobilised for peaceful coexistence and economic prosperity.
This session will focus on the participation of youth in voluntary activities, including those organised by national, regional and international, both UN-based and non-UN, organisations with the view to making proposals for facilitating the creation of opportunities and strengthening youth volunteering; identifying and documenting the youth role in the processes of awareness creation regarding communicable and infectious diseases, environmental management, peace and conflict resolution. Some of the possible discussion topics are: what are the existing manifestations of youth volunteering in Africa? How relevant do young people consider the establishment of a regional (or sub-regional) mechanism of African youth volunteering? It is expected deliberations in this session will lead to the development of a framework for establishing an African Youth Volunteer programmes and the implementation of the African Youth Chater articles 15 on Sustainable Livelihoods and Youth Employment; article 17 (f) on Peace and Security; and article 26 (e & k) on Youth Responsiblities.
• Participation of Young People in Social Transformation
This session will attempt to reach a consensus on how to utilise the identifiable skills of young people to secure stable and sustainable progress in Africa's social transformation. In particular, the session will review the role of young people in the music and arts as well as through sport in establishing social cohesion and tranquility in African communities.
Young people are the principal actors in Africa's social and political creativity today. Under the onslaught of a range of adversities-HIV/AIDS, unemployment, political repression, conflict, and the collapse of education systems-young people are actively fashioning new social orders. Most of these emergent social networks, organizations and belief systems are poorly understood. Youth through music and art and through excellence in sport show their refusal to accept the deplorable social and political circumstances in which they find themselves, and their determination to find new ways to give meaning to their lives in an environment in which almost all avenues for self-advancement are closed. Through sport, youth redeem their self-esteem, learn team building skills, tolerance and adherence to rules- critical factors in social development. It is expected that the session will develop ways to mainstream sport, music and art in national development strategies, and in doing so create further entry points for youth participation in national development.
Cluster 3: Youth and Political Development
• Characterisations and Official Definitions of Youth
The discussion under this topic will attempt to reach consensus on: "who are Africa's youth?" Traditional African societies had sequences for the maturing individual: for men, child to single man or warrior or labourer, to married self-supporting adult and elder, and for women, from girl to wife then to mother (Aryee, 1997). In modern societies, the sequence has become: from school to employment, with perhaps an intermediate stage for higher education or training (with consequent delay in marriage). 'Youth' in social terms is therefore a problematic, intermediary and ambivalent category, chiefly defined by what it is not: youths are not dependent children, but neither are they independent, socially responsible adults.
With social and economic development, and the ratification of international conventions by African governments, a single juridical age of maturity has gradually been introduced, though not fully accepted, across Africa. The age definition and classification of different age ranges of young people such as teenagers, middle-age youth, and mature youth, has implications for public policy and individual welfare, which must be addressed. It is expected that the session will lead to a consensus on the rationale for the "definition of youth" adopted in the African Youth Charter.
• African Identity and Citizenship
This session will examine the issue of national and African identity, the transition that youth undergo as they become citizens; how early political and civic experience shape patterns of citizenship throughout life, and the impact of "meaningful" citizenship on participation, accountability and collective action in achieving development. How do young people perceive African identity in a globalised world? Are their perspectives different from "national" ones? What are the implications for national development if divergences exist in these perceptions? These are some of the issues that this session will be concerned with.
Many young people feel left out of national processes, and they show their frustration in terms of non-participation in voting, for example. To them citizenship has not much real meaning, in the absence of quality education, employment, access to political structures, and roles in business and finance for young people. What it means to be an African young citizen needs to be defined and strategies need to be developed for the protection of the privileges embodied in such definitions.
It is expected that the session will lead to a consensus on strategies for developing skills for national and African citizenship as well as nurturing the environment for the actualization of the African citizenship among youth.
• Young Africans in Diaspora
The population of African youth in the Diaspora is substantial and may be classified into four groups, namely, students, completed students not returning, recent immigrants other than students, and African youth born outside the continent.
Most African students are concentrated in the developed countries, especially Western Europe and North America. Africa accounted for nearly 5.0 per cent of the population of foreign students in US in 2002/2003. Some African countries like Kenya ranked among the largest student sending countries to the United States with a total student population of 7862 in 2002/2003. The number of African youth in the US is significantly higher if United States-born children of African immigrants are included.
The main determining factors for student migration from the perspective of the sending (home) country are lack of facilities, and hence an inability of African higher learning institutions to absorb the increasing demand by youth for education and the narrow range of specialized courses offered by these institutions. Student migration represents a potential flow of skilled workers, either during the course of their studies or when they have completed their studies.
The direct role of Africa's youth in the Diaspora in the continent's development is low compared with that of foreign youth on the continent. Is Africa offering opportunities for others and not for her sons and daughters? What can be done to tap the resources of young Africans living abroad? How could they be re-integrated in African society?
The session will a) discuss and share experiences arising from African Diaspora initiatives such as the AU Diaspora Initiative, explore and identify innovative ways and mechanisms at the national and regional level for harnessing the resources (financial, intellectual and otherwise) of the African youth in Diaspora, and develop consensus on practical and strategic plans for inclusion of Youth in Diaspora in Africa's development processes.
• Young People, Conflict Resolution and Peace Building
In Africa, due to the sheer number of young people and their estrangement from the formal social and political order, mass mobilization of youth for war has not had the effect of sparking political change. Young people are not a scarce resource, and as a result, political and military leaders tend to use them with impunity. Information about the socio-economic and political profile of regular and rebel armies in Africa is vital for effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, and also for the project of building truly peaceful civilian regimes.
This session will cover issues such as: the reasons why young people have been involved in recent armed conflicts, both as victims and agents; effective options for addressing youth needs in immediate post conflict situations as well as during periods of peace-building and post-war reconstruction; experiences of best practices on these issues; and experiences on conflict prevention. Specifically, the session will attempt to cover the following: a) r ole of youth in African conflicts; b) the youth dimension of conflict resolution; and c) youth solutions to peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction.
Child soldiers have become the subject of much programming, advocacy and research in recent years. The focus has been on the illegitimacy of recruiting children (initially under 15, more recently under 18) as combatants, and the need for their demobilization and rehabilitation. The next stage in a campaign against child soldiers is to broaden the agenda to include young people and militarism. While it is not possible to make a legal or human rights case against young soldiers, it is both necessary and possible to address the structural conditions that make it so easy to militarise Africa's youth and to pave the way for solid social and political reconstruction.
The use of underage soldiers by armed groups is a war crime and efforts must be up scaled to deal with this scourge. However, we must be careful not to view the role of youth in conflict situations simply as that of victims of war. In order to effectively deal with these issues, the agency and rationale for wielding arms must also be taken into account. In that context, it is similarly important to focus specifically on addressing youth needs when dealing with issues of conflict resolution and peace building. In West Africa and SADC regions this is happening, and ADF-V should document best practices for emulation elsewhere.
It is expected that this session will develop strategies for strengthening youth's role in peace building and conflict resolution, and for embedding employment in the pursuit of collective security in the communities.
• Participation of Young People in Democratic, Rights-based and Gender-equal Development
Most young people are social and political beings, impatient to express themselves, organize and engage in the social and political affairs of their communities and nations. They often long to escape from their families and are already engaged with extra-familial networks. Given the chance, many join political parties and become among their most active and dedicated members. Some volunteer for armed rebel movements, which in some cases can become a means for personal as well as political emancipation and self-actualisation.
How could governments best engage with the force for positive change represented by Africa's multifarious informal youth movements? How could the potential for a positive contribution of young 'party militants' be maximised, and their criminal or radical potential minimized? How could the political motivations that child soldiers might harbour be translated into peaceful activism? What might be the best way to engage fruitfully with student unions and youth political movements? In countries, such as in Uganda, there are representatives of youth in Parliament. This is a positive step and other countries could learn some lessons.
The participation rights of young people need to be taken seriously, so that they are more adequately represented in community and national mechanisms for ensuring that citizens' voices are heard and taken into account. Institutions that represent the young, and that deal with the young need their capacities enhanced. Mechanisms for delivering services to the young, ranging from schools and clinics to banks and micro-credit institutions, need strengthening with greater and more effective participation by their young clients and stakeholders. Civil society organizations, youth organizations, schools and universities, government departments, and regional organizations should all become concerned with young people, as citizens in their own right. Addressing all of these issues promises to yield benefits not only for children and young people, but also to increase the stability of the governments that are able to engage their young citizens in the national project.
The session will consider the following among other questions:
• How can the visions and dreams of youth as well as the dynamic components of youth sub-culture be transformed into positive contributions towards the establishment and sustenance of rights- and peace-based governance systems in African society, from the community to the regional and global level?
• How best can marginalized groups be included in political governance processes
• What contribution has youth been making in support of Africa's political integration? How can this be strengthened?
• What can "traditional youth chiefs" tell us in drawing up programmes and mechanisms for youth participation and inclusion?
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
The implementation of the objectives of the Forum will be revolve around three building blocks:
• Principles underpinning consultations, involvement and participation of key stakeholders, notably youth in the ADF-V processes;
• Processes for the determination of the content of all core documents, including the Consensus Statement, selection of participants, including keynote speakers and resource persons; and
• Organisation, Format and Timelines covering the work programme and documentation; media and publicity; participation; logistics; budget and finance; and post-forum activities.
Documentation
Documented reports and background papers will inform the discussions at the Forum. The core documents include:
• Thematic papers- These will highlight practical approaches to and serve as background reports on youth development in the major areas of concern to youth, as classified under the sub-thematic and subject areas above, namely, a) youth and economic development, b) youth and social development and c) youth and political development. The papers will also attempt to consolidate youth proposals on approaches and specific actions for youth development in the specified areas of concern. These papers will be produced by joint teams made up of the collaborating partners working with their youth partners, under the oversight of the Joint Technical Team and the Steering Committee.
• Country Briefs prepared by national youth representatives through a process of national consultations undertaken by the Core Partners in collaboration with the national Ministries responsible for youth, which will highlight the national youth vision, key youth concerns and the way these concerns are being addressed, and will make recommendations for the way forward. The Country Briefs will be reviewed by a Technical sub-committee and consolidated into one document to be titled, African Youth Briefs.
• The AUC report "Status of African Youth 2006", which gives a comprehensive information about the socio-economic and cultural situation of African youth as well as national youth policies.
Parallel Workshops, Exhibitions and Cultural Activities
The Forum will encourage collaborating agencies to run skill building and information sharing workshops, exhibitions and cultural expositions, and to prepare participating youth for the relevant ADF-V sessions, in the following areas, among others:
• ICT Entrepreneurship
• National Youth Employment Policies and Entrepreneurship
• Motivation, Role Modeling and Mentoring
• Peace Building and Post-Conflict Reconstruction
• Youth in Development through Sport, and
• Youth and Volunteerism.
Partnership and Collaboration
In accordance with the general desire to participate in ADF-V and the UN General Assembly Resolution 60/2, ADF-V planning and execution will revolve around five main partnership and collaborative arrangements:
• Joint Organisers - It is expected that AU (and the regional communities) will join ECA in organising the forum, as strategic partners;
• Core Partners - It is expected that UN system agencies with established mandates for youth development, such as UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, ILO, UN-Habitat, and UNDP, as well as regional bodies such as Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) will also join as core partners and contribute technically and financially regarding the preparation of background reports and country case studies; running workshops; and assist in the identification, recruitment and sponsorship of key personalities and resource persons, youth groups and individuals;
• Other collaborators- ECA, AU and joint partners will individually or jointly solicit further support from other institutions such as national institutions, bilateral and private sector organisations, civil society organizations, and other UN agencies (and the UNCTs), to undertake specific activities such as the organization of workshops, preparation of documentation, and provision of funding for needy participants and resource persons;
• Funding partners- Will provide financial support for pre-forum, forum and post-forum activities; and
• Youth organizations- will assist in the preparation of the draft Consensus Statement, country, sub-regional and regional briefs and background documents and in the running of workshops, and general servicing of the Forum and related meetings.
Target Participants
Youth is a development issue. Hence, all development stakeholders are expected to participate actively in the Forum, including the following:
• Regional Economic Communities
• Ministers responsible for youth affairs
• Youth organisations
• National (official) youth organizations
• Regional Youth Organisations
• International Youth Organisations
• UN partners
• Private sector organisations
• Bilateral organizations
• Multilateral organizations
• Key Personalities, such as youth-oriented heads of government, intellectuals, business and civil society leaders
• Resource persons and youth role models
• Traditional and religious leaders of youth, and
• Civil Society Organisations
Core and collaborating agencies are expected to include youth in their sponsored delegation to the Forum, in accordance with Resolution 60/2. The full list of participants would be completed by August 31, 2006.
Pre-Forum Processes and Activities
Regional Experts Meeting
A regional Meeting on Youth Development in Africa will be held at the end of June 2006, involving UN/DESA Youth Unit and other collaborating agencies and youth, to prepare, among other things, Africa's contribution to the UN S-G's Report on the WPAY. The meeting will also discuss the proposed strategies for achieving the objectives of ADF-V, including the work programme, modalities for conducting the national consultations, and partnership arrangements for ADF-V.
National Consultations
The aim of the national consultations is to 1) develop country briefs summarising the vision of national youth in terms of youth role in African Development, identifying supporting environments and mechanisms they need in order to play their role effectively, and determine how these environment and mechanisms could be installed and operationalised; 2) set out criteria for selecting youth participants for the ADF; 3) identify best practices in youth development; and 4) establish networks for the implementation of post-forum activities and programmes.
This would be undertaken between mid-July and mid-August 2006 by a team of the core partners through the UNCTs and under the auspices of ministries responsible for youth in member states in collaboration with national youth organizations, private sector and non-governmental organizations as well as others involved in youth development. The report of the national consultations will be fed into the core documents of the Forum.
Post-Forum Activities
ADF-V is expected strengthen the process towards the ratification and operationalisation of the African Youth Charter. ADF-V partners will collaborate in support of this process by including awareness of the Charter in their activities and programmes. ECA will establish a programme on youth to assist African countries develop and implement their national youth policies, in collaboration with its partners.
---------------Youth participants would be selected on the basis of 1) accomplishment in one or more of the thematic areas, and 2) gender, age and regional balance, with the view to achieving broad-based participation- reflecting Africa's youth demographic realities.