Youths critical to attainment of Sustainable Development Goals, says UNECA
Youth
By Kamal Tayo Oropo
Lagos, Aug. 5, 2019 (NAN) Africa’s youths are an important vehicle that the continent must harness to ensure that it achieves the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mr Oliver Chinganya, the Director of African Centre for Statistics at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said this in a press statement.
It was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday by the Commission.
The statement quoted Chinganya to have made the suggestion in his address at the beginning of a life skills’ training programme for youths in Ethiopia.
He said the youth could only have positive impact on the continent provided they were given the right start in life.
He said that the training, the seventh held in a row, focused on the transition of boys and girls to adulthood.
A recent UN statistics stated that there were 1.2 billion young people aged between 15 years and 24 years globally in 2015, translating into nearly 30 per cent of the world’s population.
It added that approximately 226 million of these young people were living in Africa, making the continent the most youthful in the world.
It stated that children under age 15 accounted for 41 per cent of the population in Africa and young persons aged between 15 years and 24 years accounted for another 19 per cent.
By 2030, the target date when the SDGs should have been achieved, it is projected that the number of youths in Africa will increase by 42 per cent to 321 million.
Chinganya, who is also the Officer in Charge of the Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management Division of the ECA, said these numbers come with benefits and challenges, some of which would affect the youth.
He said this was because the current generation of youths had been the largest in human history.
Chinganya said they would likely face major challenges in getting access to higher education, employment, lack of participation in social, economic and political decision making process, among many others.
He also said that an increase in the number of young people would put additional pressures on the already strained education and health care services, housing and employment opportunities across the continent.
He said that this had raised the need for proper planning by the various countries’ authorities.
“So, growing up in this challenging era, our youths need to have the necessary skills that will equip them to grow into well-functioning adults,” he said.
According to him, the life skills’ training is crucial in ensuring the youth have abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour.
He said that would enable them to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
“You are growing up in an era where there are many influencers around, the most common being the social media and the internet.
“I hope this training will touch on how you can use it to your benefits and not to your detriment,” he warned.
The director said that life skills include critical and creative thinking, decision-making, effective communication, as well as skills for developing healthy relationships and a positive self-concept.
Chinganya also explained that life skills would help young people make responsible and informed choices and could promote healthy lifestyles as well as career skills. NAN
KTO/PAD
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Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Peter Dada