ADF-V Aide Memoire
The Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V)
Youth and Leadership in the 21 st Century
Aide Memoire
16 - 18 November 2006
UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Introduction
The continent's long-term development depends on its human population, of which young people form about 60%. About 45% of Africa's labour force is youth. The advantages of a youthful population include: greater degree of mobility, versatility, openness, adaptability and tolerance; dynamism in the supply of labour required for faster economic growth, opportunities for mass production and hence economies of scale required for the development of local industrial and commercial enterprises; dynamic support base for social security systems; and creativity and innovativeness. In several areas of development such as in community development, peace building, IT, and HIV/AIDS education youth are already playing catalytic role in Africa. In view of these advantages, any serious policy for social, political and economic development in Africa must recognize and mainstream youth accordingly.
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 young people. Thus, at least, from the perspective of the MDGs, Africa's young people are tremendously important.
Yet, 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 only for the future but not now. When it comes to young women and girls, the connotation of youth is even more disheartening- they are to be abused, marginalized or ignored.
More importantly, what is youth vision for Africa? What are their perspectives on current development initiatives? For Africa's future to be stable and prosperous an understanding of youth aspirations and visions is necessary.
The Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V) on Youth
The African Development Forum is a multi-stakeholder platform for debating, discussing and initiating concrete strategies for Africa's development. The Forum initiated in 1999, has already been held four times with very good concrete outcomes including the initiation of a programme to support national ICT policy formulation and implementation in Africa. The fifth forum 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.
The decision to devote the Fifth African Development Forum (ADF-V) to youth emanates from the frank acknowledgement by various stakeholders that political stability, social solidification, and economic prosperity lie in harnessing the capacities of the youth.
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". In October 2005, following the review of progress on implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth (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 has already adopted an African Youth Charter that seeks to provide the political framework for youth development on the continent. 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 real situation of youth in Africa and the potential contribution youth could make towards the achievement of development on the continent warrants further discussion that would lead to stronger concerted effort in developing our youth at all levels.
Objectives of ADF-V
The objective of ADF-V is to give meaningful expression to the recognition of youth as a development asset and 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 African Union Youth Charter, NEPAD and internationally agreed development goals including MDGs.
A regional platform on youth development is necessary because African countries face the same type of crisis of youth: limited access to (quality) education; unemployment; threat of HIV/AIDS; conflict and post-conflict woes; social, political and economic exclusion; etc. The inter-twinning nature of issues across national borders in relation to youth migration, for example, provides potential benefits from a regional approach to youth policy analysis and design.
ADF-V will therefore provide the mechanism for articulating the concerns of youth and develop consensus regarding the solutions. Specifically, ADF-V will:
• Deepen strategies and synergetic support for the operationalisation of the African Union Youth Charter;
• Build partnerships and renew commitment to youth development, including the establishment of knowledge networks for sharing information and best practices on youth development, especially relating to girls and young women,
• Provide an avenue for collating material for the first-ever African Youth Report;
• Propose the establishment of the African Youth (Volunteer) Corps, among other Pan African Youth initiatives; and
• Offer opportunity for African youth to dialogue with key personalities as a launching pad for youth voice at the continental level and also provide a better understanding of youth vision of Africa.
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, clustered around three pillars, under the following subject areas or sub-themes:
Cluster 1: Youth and Economic Development
(Topics: Education and life 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; urban Africa; youth in the religious setting; young people in urban Africa; volunteerism; and participation in social transformation through sport, music and art)
Cluster 3: Youth and Political Development
(Topics: Characterisation and definition of youth; Africa identity and citizenship; young people in Diaspora; conflict resolution and peace building; and participation in democratic, rights-based and gender-equal development)
In addition to the regular sessions, there would be pre-ADF workshops and activities as well as exhibitions aimed at providing opportunities for developing and strengthening networks, sharing information, and building skills of youth participants in various subject areas.
A major component of the work programme is a dialogue session between the youth and key personalities of the continent.
Pre-Forum Processes and Activities
Regional Experts Meeting
A Regional Meeting on Youth Development in Africa was held by ECA on June 27-29, 2006, in collaboration with UN/DESA Youth Unit and other agencies and youth, to brainstorm on the ADF-V draft work programme and to prepare Africa's contribution to the UN S-G's Report on the WPAY. The meeting discussed 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 Youth Consultations
National consultations towards ADF-V are planned for August 2006. These would be one-day consultations under the leadership of ministries responsible for youth in member states in collaboration with national youth organizations. The report of the national consultations will be fed into the core documents of the Forum.
The aim of the national youth consultations is to 1) develop country briefs summarising the position of national youth on the key issues to be discussed at the Form; 2) share information on the African Youth Charter; and 4) establish national level mechanisms for implementing post-ADF-V activities and programmes.
Documentation
Discussions at the forum will be guided by documented reports but not driven by them; we expect a more flexible, open and frank discussions on all issues of relevance to youth and their development. The core documents would include:
• Main Conference Paper- This will highlight the situation of youth in Africa and examples of best practices in all major areas relating to youth development.
• Thematic papers- These will highlight practical approaches to and serve as background reports on youth development in all 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.
• 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 positions on various issues of concern to them.
Target Participants
Youth is a development issue. Hence, all development stakeholders are expected to participate in the Forum, including: Regional Economic Communities; Ministers responsible for youth affairs; youth organizations; national (official) youth organizations; Regional Youth Organisations; International Youth Organisations; UN agencies; private sector organizations; bilateral and multilateral organizations; key personalities and resource persons; youth role models; traditional and religious leaders, and civil society organizations.
Youth participation would be designed to reflect gender, age, language and regional balance.