2063 Academy Youth Dialogue | NGO Presentation Report

The Agenda 2063 is a continental framework document that was adopted by the African Union in the 24th Summit in January 2015 in Addis Ababa, whose aim is to bring about inclusive growth and sustainable development for Africa to be realised in the next fifty years. The Agenda 2063 details a roadmap called The First Ten-Year Implementation Plan for member states that outlines a set of goals, priority areas, and targets that aims to achieve an “integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”. 

The development of Africa is people driven and it relies on the incredible potential of the young people. With more than 400 million people aged between the ages of 15 and 35, Africa has the largest youth population in the world. It is therefore imperative that youth in Africa use their knowledge, skills and talents to achieve the set goals that have been put in place for Agenda 2063. 

It is against this background that AUDA-NEPAD, and Atlas4dev, in partnership with the African Union Commission, Maghreb Economic Forum, and Facebook Africa, organized a series of regional-level Agenda 2063 Youth Dialogues as a platform through which their needs can be addressed, their voices can be amplified, and their engagement in the realization of Agenda 2063 can be advanced. Day one of the youth dialogue incorporated different Non-Governmental Organizations that presented the work that they do and their recommendations as to what they believe can be done to advance the needs of African youth. 

The first NGO to present was Lagos Food Bank Initiative (LFBI), represented by Michael Sunbola. Michael stated that LFBI is a nutrition focused initiative and the first indigenous food bank in Nigeria committed to fighting hunger, eradicating food waste and solving the problem of malnutrition through targeted programs that seek to improve the nutrition intake in Nigeria and neighboring countries.

He stated that their initiative is targeted towards the marginalised groups such as women, youths, seniors and children. The role that the Nigerian youths play in the initiative is the driving force of their volunteering network. Michael elaborated that the youth are the ones who advocate, collect, sort, pack and distribute donations across Nigeria.

They do this by intercepting the food value chain to salvage excess agricultural produce that would have been wasted. As a closing note Mr. Sunbola sensitized the huge impact  that the youths are making in the agriculture sector and he recommended that the more young people need to be included in the food systems, this will lead to an increased growth and innovative development in Africa. 

Peace First, an organisation that works to provide for young people with the ability to create and lead projects that address injustice in their communities through compassion, courage and collaborative leadership was the second NGO to be presented. Youssa Mshmsh, the presenter stated that Peace First is a digital platform where young people can log in to receive mentorship, training, networks, mentors and funding that will enable them start of their journey of peacebuilding and development.

Youssa stated that the youth face a number of challenges such as low awareness of the social and political issues at hand, lack of support from the community they are working with, lack of sustainable financial resources, absence of networks and partnerships and weak digital infrastructure. In spite of all these she elaborated as they have several recommendations.

Firstly, the creation of connection portals that will enable the youth to get connected to the organisations that matter such as the government. Secondly, inclusion and engagement of systems that will bring in young people. Thirdly, sustainable funding that will help in supporting operations costs of some projects. Lastly, is an important aspect in advancing the issues that the youth face. The youth need digital infrastructure that will help them campaign and spread awareness of the issues that they are trying to change.

The Youth Café was represented by our Communications Lead Malika Pyarali. In the presentation Malika started by sharing with the audience the vision and mission of The Youth Café. She illustrated how our current strategic plan looks at the youth bulge as an opportunity for development, economic growth and how our partnership with young people leverages research, learning and adaptation, cultivates sustainability and self-reliance, and advances gender and youth programming.

Malika also shared the set of principles in which our work is underpinned by. She elaborated the institutions' belief in creating inclusive platforms and safe sharing spaces (both digital and physical) for young people to inform policies and programs that impact their lives and ensuring young people’s knowledge and insight informs youth development efforts at all levels. The Youth Café’s Theory of Change video was played to the audience for them to have an understanding of the positive youth development initiatives that we develop in line with our eight pillars. 

At the end of the presentation The Youth Café’s recommendations to the audience on the Agenda 2063 were as follows; Firstly, the need for an increased public awareness and literacy of the content and relevance of Africa’s development agenda to the contexts of the individual African states. Secondly, clarity of the roles and responsibilities of regional institutions in the implementation development agenda needed to be strengthened. Thirdly, the STEM curriculum needs to be enhanced through training young people to enable growth and industrialization in African countries. Fourthly, national statistical systems and institutions should be strengthened in order to avail the necessary data and information that will enable Africa to be assessed properly in line with the Agenda 2063. Lastly, continental, regional and national risk management strategies need to be set up to prevent pitfalls to the overshadowing success of the Agenda 2063.

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