Sharing Lessons In Youth Collaboration At The 2063 Academy Youth Dialogue
“Africa has the most youthful and fastest growing population globally, with more than 400 million young people aged between the ages of 15 to 35 years. The need to leverage the talent, energy, and potential of its youth to achieve the core embedded in the seven aspirations of Agenda2063 is imperative”
In 2013 African leaders adopted Agenda 2063, setting out a continental vision for the next 50 years to build an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. The First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063, spanning 2014 to 2023, outlines a set of goals, priority areas, and targets that the continent aims to achieve at national, regional, and continental levels.
The African Union Commission (AUC) and African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), were tasked by policy organs of the African Union to coordinate and prepare biennial performance reports on the implementation of Agenda 2063. The report presents an analysis of progress made on the implementation of Agenda 2063 against the 2019 targets.
Efforts are currently underway to compile country and regional level reports that will inform the preparation of the second continental progress report on Agenda 2063 which will be presented to the AU Assembly in February 2022.
“At the heart of Agenda 2063 is an Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, as well as caring for children.”
The Youth Café is keen to this agenda as it inculcates the values and works towards the end goals of ‘Culture, arts and sports’ as well as ‘Business, Job creation and Entrepreneurship’, two of the eight priority areas explained in TYCs Theory of Change. For The Youth Café, our ultimate goal is to realize a sizable, lasting, and positive change in the lives of young people in Africa.
We believe 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.
These efforts are aimed at a higher percentage of youth engaging and participating in the maintenance and promotion of local and international peace and security, and advocate for the prevention of violent extremism through media platforms (social, mainstream, digital) and a higher percentage of youths are equipped with employability skills and competencies and are adapted to take on future challenges and opportunities in society.
Our current strategic plan looks at today’s youth bulge as an opportunity for development and economic growth. To this effect, we Partner with Young People; Leverage Research, Learning, and Adaptation; Cultivate Sustainability and Self Reliance, and Advance Gender-responsive Youth Programming.
With a reach in some 22 countries in Africa, TYC is able to engage with youth and marginalized populations through various projects. Some of the marginalized sections of youth TYC works with include youth living with disability, youth living in informal settlements, young women and girls, minority youth, indigenous youth, among others. Our registered Individual and organizational memberships of 48,000 and 14,000 respectively have orchestrated partnerships, enhanced peer-to-peer learning, and inspired innovations across Africa.
Africa has the youngest and fastest-growing population globally, with more than 400 million young people aged between 15 to 35 years. The need to leverage the talent, energy, and potential of its youth to achieve the core embedded in the seven aspirations of Agenda 2063 is imperative. Young Africans are not only beneficiaries of Agenda 2063 but are active contributors and architects in its development and continue to play an important role in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of Agenda 2063. Accordingly, the African Union places a premium on leveraging the participation of the youth in the execution of the continent’s development blueprint through various structures, instruments, and frameworks such as the African Youth Charter.
The Charter aims to empower African youth to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic and political development of the continent, and equally requires youth to take responsibility for their own development. Building on the mandate of the AUC and AUDA-NEPAD to prepare continental level progress reports on Agenda 2063, it is crucial that African youth are engaged in the formal processes of tracking progress and deepening the review, reflection and dialogue among the youth on the attainment of the targets and goals set encapsulated in Agenda 2063 Ten Year Implementation Plan.
The Agenda 2063 Youth Dialogues will serve as a convener, amplifier, and bridge builder for youth and civil society organizations – for purposes of strengthening advocacy and knowledge sharing to inform policy-making, planning, and monitoring of Agenda 2063.
Its main objectives are to increase awareness, publicity, and advocacy for internalization, alignment, main streaming, and implementation of Agenda 2063 among youth and decisionmakers, empower youth to participate in translating, reviewing and monitoring Agenda 2063 within local, national and regional policy, map the progress of the north African region regarding the achievement of the 2063 Agenda aspiration and to avail a continental-level youth platform on Agenda 2063 for networking, benchmarking, peer learning and mutual support. More specifically, it is planned to have the outcomes of the dialogues fed into the High-level Forum on Agenda 2063, convened by the AU Champion Agenda 2063 held on the margins of the AU Assembly.
Therefore, the expected outcomes being policy recommendations from the youth and civil organizations on alignment, domesticating, peer support and reporting on the implementation of Agenda 2063, a compendium of good and innovative practices, and recommendations of operational strategies for enhancing and accelerating the implementation of and reporting on Agenda 2063 and the establishment of a youth network around the Agenda 2063.
The Agenda 2063 Youth Policy Dialogues will provide the space for African youth to engage in and meaningfully impact the implementation of Agenda 2063. The project shall be divided into 3 main phases: Phase 1, which begins after the call of applications has been launched, consists of a set of virtual workshops and discussions.
In preparation for phase 2, Atlas4dev along with its partners, shall share widely a from helping to mapping NGOs working on youth issues to share their work, main challenges faced, and recommendations which will feed the Policy Paper.
Phase 3 shall be a convener for the participants to be trained on technical skills (How to write a policy paper, policy design, monitoring and evaluation of the progress report...), and produce a regional youth policy report on the Agenda 2063, as well as the establishment of the Youth Network.
The Youth Café has been invited to be a part of the panel for phase 3 of The 2063 Academy Youth Dialogue. Malika Pyarali, our Communications, Advocacy and Digital Engagement Associate will be representing TYC during the sessions. We will be speaking during the NGOs presentation on 13th September at 12:20 pm Nairobi time and the Inspiring Talk & Fireside Chat "Youth collaboration: The Youth Café " on the 17th of September at 2pm Nairobi time.
Being a partner to this initiative means you support future youth and decision-makers in the implementation of Agenda 2063, strengthen the pan-African vision of Agenda 2063 for sustainable and inclusive development by young Africans, contribute to the success of a pilot initiative at the continental level, endorse The establishment of a North African youth network that will allow the unification of African youth voices and be its founding partner and highlight the leadership of your institution in achieving the Agenda 2063 in the Policy Paper to be presented at the African Union Summit in 2022.
The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience and transformative change.
Contact us for any comments or suggestions.