It’s all set for the Maiden edition of the African Youth SDGs Summit scheduled to take place from Wednesday 1st to the 2nd of November 2017 at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre, Teshie Accra.

The event which is expected to host about 350 delegates between 18 and 35 years from Africa and beyond is organized by Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG) and AKO Foundation with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The two-day event is on theme “Youth as Drivers of Sustainable Development.”

The Convener for the Summit, Mr. Emmanuel Ametepey, would be in the thick of events steering affairs to ensure smooth running of the two-day programme.

The summit is a bi-annual forum that amplifies the voice of the African Youth, showcases innovations and offer policy advise to increase youth participation in the SDGs implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation processes.

The summit will further provide an open and inclusive platform for young people in Africa, SDG Achievers, African Governments, Development Partners and the private sector to dialogue and address pertinent issues affecting the youth and also develop innovative ways of ending poverty, unemployment, conflict and combat climate change in the African sub-region.

This is being organized two years after adoption of the SDGs because it is believed that, two years into the SDGs, countries will have by now, settled on the special SDGs that are of a priority to them and systems will have been put in place to ensure that, all relevant stakeholders have been consulted and involved in developing templates for monitoring.

Expectations

Issues to be discussed at the Summit include sustaining the Gains: The Journey to the SDGs-role of Youth, Youth as Drivers of Sustainable Development, The nexus between agribusiness and youth employment, Migration: An opportunity or Obstacle to Achieving SDG 3, Young women and leadership in the SDGs in Africa, and the SDGs and global skills: Matching skills and labour needs.

The expected outcome will consolidate the views of young people on the Sustainable Development Goals, draw the attention of donor agencies, African governments, development partners and the private sector to that fact that the youth remained the largest untapped resources and the most powerful drivers of development.

The outcome of the summit document will highlight innovations and best practices to inform policy and advocacy at all levels.

A Communiqué would also be published in the dailies in Ghana and copies will be shared with the High Commissioners and Ambassadors for onward forwarding to their respective governments and network with other young people from the regional levels to share their experiences on the stage of the SDGs implementation in their countries and reflect on their common threats and opportunities

Aim of The Summit

The objectives of the summit is to identify and showcase youth-led sustainable development initiatives, create a community of practice where African Youth can share, discuss and exchange ideas on their own initiatives and to foster knowledge sharing and peer mentoring and to foster dialogue and intercultural exchange among African youth.

It would also offer the opportunity to network with field leaders, policy makers, expert advisers, to discuss the way forward to support innovative solutions for attaining the SDGs and achieving sustainable development in Africa.

The platform would also propose policy recommendations towards enhancing youth participation in policy process on the African continent.

Participants

300 delegates from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Benin, Zambia, Egypt, Sierra Leone Tunisia, France, Italy, USA, among others have confirmed participation in the summit.