African Youth Meet In Zimbabwe For Development Effectiveness Agenda

About 20 delegates are meeting in Zimbabwe from 7-9 September 2015 under the CSO Partnership for Development Effective (CPDE) Youth sector for a Regional ToT that seeks to define the development effectiveness agenda.

The gathering seeks to build the capacity and strengthening of youth actors on regional and national level advocacy and engagement on Development Effectiveness and the Sustainable Development Goals (implementation, monitoring/accountability of the SDGs), equipping youth advocates with skills to track development commitments and holding leaders to account at country level, and establishing broader membership and outreach for the CPDE Youth Sector at regional level as a means to achieve targeted goals.

The Regional event is being hosted by the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO) which is the current Global Youth Coordinator under CPDE. Delegates are from Ghana, Cameron, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, and Rwanda among other key stakeholders who are part of this African program which is in line with developmental principles.

The regional meeting came at time when SDGs will be formally adopted by Heads of State at the UN in September marking a historic moment that will set the world’s development agenda for the next 15 years, already there is acknowledgement that ‘”children, young women and men are critical agents of change.”The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in his own synthesis report, “The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet” noted that: “Young people will be the torch-bearers of the next sustainable development agenda through 2030.”

The need to ensure that youth issues are included in the new development agenda has been recognized by the endorsement of over 1,250 youth organizations from 140 countries, major international youth organizations, UN agencies, regional intergovernmental bodies and the “Global Youth Call; prioritizing youth in the post-2015 development agenda”, which reflects an unprecedented emerging consensus on concrete proposals and target areas on youth in the post 2015 development agenda.

The success of the post 2015 development agenda will not only depend on whether work to reach the new targets is properly funded (Financing for Development-FFD), it will also depend on whether diverse youths are included in participatory monitoring and social accountability processes at a national and local level. This will require special investments and targets to be made explicitly for youth (including those from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds) to avert growing social injustice, systematic poverty and inequalities. Across various regions of the world, young people’s participation in national plan and policy development remains mostly at the tokenistic level of participation.

Young people are the foundation for effective development, and if engaged they will improve many of the structural development challenges that we face today, including enhancing the cohesiveness of families and communities, reducing health risks and advancing livelihood opportunities.

Youth and youth organizations can play a significant role in the SDGs framework by mobilizing more young people in developing a sense of ownership and awareness about the challenges they are facing nowadays. They also could leverage collective action and attitude changes in environmental protection or sustainable consumption patterns, and they could enhance the effectiveness of peace and development efforts through participatory forms of monitoring and accountability. It is imperative that youth from all parts of the world participate actively in all relevant levels of decision-making processes because it affects their lives today and has implications for their future.

In addition to their knowledgeable contribution and their ability to mobilize support, youth bring unique perspectives that need to be taken into account. Numerous actions and recommendations within the international community have been proposed to ensure that youth are provided a secure and healthy future, including an environment of quality, improved standards of living and access to education and employment. These issues need to be addressed in development planning of SDGs.

Young people have a stronger voice and they could be better served by local and national institutions, with more robust and youth ­ friendly policies. They also should have access to economic and social opportunities in order for them to share economic growth, healthy lives, and contribute to household, community and national well­being.

At the moment, various stakeholders across the globe are developing and revising youth strategies and policies, hence there is a need for the youth and relevant stakeholders to collaborate together and make the necessary changes. We all want a world where youth could fully participate in democratic and development processes, and play active roles in peace building and community development. Studies and statistics show that youth are falling short.

It is the time to get beyond lofty rhetoric and ensure that young people are explicitly part of the “Leave No One Behind” inclusive development agenda and well-intended consultation. It is critical that youth are addressed in a more wide-ranging and concrete manner than in the current proposal. Young people must be seen as serious partners in the soon to be adopted sustainable development goals.

In order to achieve the SDGs, the National Coalitions, councils, networks and associations are also required to contribute actively. They should be able to encourage and help youth to acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development and tackle youth issues.

They should also encourage youth involvement in conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and support them to recycle and avoid unsustainable consumptions, including overconsumption. They should educate young people with the right skills to implement resilient agricultural practices to eradicate hunger in their communities. They should promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation and entrepreneurship, apprenticeship, creativity and innovation.

In partnership with all stakeholders, they should organise programmes that can equip young people with the right skills and knowledge to eradicate poverty at their communities and society in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. They should also value and take action on the inputs and ideas brought forward by the young people and promote the participation of young people in community service and encourage voluntary work in the community development.

The African event in Zimbabwe ha also Side Events that seeks to bring multi lateral institutions, government, CSOs, the private sector , labour, church , students among other to share ideas on development effectiveness agenda.

Misheck Gondo