Twenty five years have now passed since the historic International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) , which took place here in our beloved African Continent in Cairo, Egypt in 1994.

A remarkable feature of this summit was , the Programme of Action adopted on 13 September 1994 , which emphasises the integral linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individuals, especially young people with commitments to sexual reproductive health and rights for all young people, especially women and girls.

As the African Union Youth Envoy, I cannot overstate the importance of this glorious day in accelerating Agenda 2063 aspiration 6, of an Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth.

Over the past two and a half decades we have seen significant gains across the 55 African member states on the continent. The gap in gender parity in political , social and economic spheres , has declined. Politically , the proportion of seats in parliament for women has expanded from 11.7% in 1999 to 24 % globally in the present day. Rwanda’s parliament, for example, has the highest percentage of women in a single house of parliament worldwide – the government has reserved 24 out of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies for women.

Also in our African continent, we have seen an increase in women taking on huge responsibilities in governments. A good example is, Her Excellency , Sahle-Work Zewde who recently has become the first elected female President of the Federal Democractic Republic of Ethiopia since taking office in October 25 , 2018. There are many more examples in Malawi , Liberia, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritius and many others where women have led African governments.

In the Social and economic aspects there has been a general improvement in the quality of life; fewer women are dying while giving birth and maternal deaths have declined and millions have rose out of poverty. This was achieved through various interventions and initiatives by governments and key partners aimed at empowering women, as well as ensuring equality in accessing and participating in economic , political and social opportunities.

However, there remains unfinished business in this quest for the personal development of young people, especially for adolescent girls and young women in Africa to have access to Sexual Reproductive Health Services, rights and choices for all.

One in five women cannot meet their family planning needs as they wish. Social ills that undermine equality are still prominent in our African Societies- an example being Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

According to the data released by UNICEF in 2013 , an egregious estimate of 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, most of which are from the African Continent.

The data goes on further to assert that if current trends persist and nothing is done, more than 50 million girls in Africa will be at risk of undergoing this inhuman practice of FGM by 2030.

Child marriages are also still very visible and existent in our societies. This trend is fuelled by various factors, mainly gender inequality , UNICEF estimates that every two seconds, a girl is married before 18 years old, and again, millions of young girls and boys continue to be victims of this harmful practice that brings nothing but a deep cloud of darkness over their potential and future to contribute meaningfully in social , political and economic aspects of the prosperous Africa We Want .

I vividly remember my last meeting with former Secretary General of the United Nations General Assembly, Kofi Annan, who always emphasizes that “Young people are not too young to lead”. The first thing we need to do as young people in Africa, is to recognise that we are leaders in our own right from our respective communities , constituents and countries. We need to start to amplify our voices in pursuit of the acceleration of our needs , rights and aspirations. Unity of purpose brings us all together as one. We all want the same things for a prosperous future in which our development is guaranteed and our potential is realised.

Secondly, as we draw closer towards the International Conference on Population and development , ICPD25 , which will be held in Nairobi , Kenya that’s being organised by UNFPA together with the government of Kenya and Denmark , it is important to see this event as an opportunity to push our development agenda through effective participation in that summit as young people from the various 55 member states of Africa. We need to have clearly outlined commitments we are expecting from our governments, and also commit to lead in the implementation of these commitments that are in the Programme of Action from our various fields.

This summit will be very strategic for all of us as it will gather leaders from all over the world, including our own African governments from the 12th to 14th of November 2019.

The time is now to make a difference and assist in the acceleration of Programme of Action as the fulfillment of ICPD25 will also mean the fulfilment of Agenda 2063.

Acceleration of the commitments that will be made through ICPD 25 means the unlocking of political , social and economic opportunities for all. It will assist in almost all aspects that have been lacking – that is creation of societies that have equal opportunity to access education and health needs such as family planning services in order to choose when , how and with whom to have a family. It will mean that most of our time as young people will be directed towards contribution to the economic aspects our nations and continent as there is zero unmet need in health provision. The fulfillment of Programme of Action will mean also that our Aspiration 6 in which the development of our continent is people driven, will be fulfilled as young people will be at the centre of delivering the commitments.

The Africa we want is where there is zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths and zero gender based violence. We must move to action and end the social evils that have haunted our development as African youth and end Child Marriage, FGM, gender based violence and mental health issues, among the other many commitments and actions we must make, and expect our governments and civil society to make.

It’s not just young people that have a role to play. Civil society will be very instrumental in ensuring accountability and that these commitments are implemented within the required timelines.

Let us all start the conversations in our communities, countries and even on social media on everything that needs to be heard by our government and institutions to push forward the Agenda of development for youth.

I believe that we are the masters of our own destiny. We will work towards our voices being heard in this important Summit and through accelerated efforts of these commitments. We will be the revolutionaries in Sustainable Development in our time!

Let us shake things up!