AFRICAN UNION |
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UNION AFRICAINE |
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UNIÃO AFRICANA |
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Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 00 251 11 551 7700 Fax: 00 251 11 551 7844
web site :
www. africa-union.org
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NOVEMBER 1ST, 2012
AFRICAN YOUTH DAY
THEME:
"
AFRICA MUST DELIVER AS ONE TO EMPOWER YOUTH FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,"
STATEMENT BY
H.E Dr. NKOSAZANA C. DLAMINI ZUMA
CHAIPERSON
OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION
Today,
1st November 2012, we are celebrating the 7th African
Youth Day, since the adoption of the Decision by the AU Heads of State in
Banjul in 2006. The theme for this year is; “Africa Must Deliver as ONE to Empower African Youth For Sustainable
Development." This theme has been chosen to encourage youth to be
involved in the decision-making processes at national, regional and continental
levels for their own development, as well as the achievement of Africa’s agenda
for sustainable development. It is also dedicated to highlight the current progress
and efforts made to ensure that Africa can speak with one voice on issues of
youth development.
It
is worth noting that major decisions that have a bearing on Youth Development were
recently made by the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government. These
include:
o the operationalization
of African Union Youth Volunteers Corps (AU-YVC) and its scaling up;
o the establishment of
the Pan African University (PAU)
o the promotion of
youth employment within the reduction by 2% of the youth unemployment rate
o the revitalization of
the Pan African Youth Union (PYU)
Other
major achievements include the following;
ü The acceleration of
the Decade Plan of Action on Youth development with the involvement of the
Regional Economic Communities and he visible role of the Member States,
ü The quick entry into
force of the African Youth Charter and other relevant instruments on the
Continent
ü A Rio+20 Conference Development Conference that assisted
in positioning the Commission as the framework in consolidating the world-level
interactions on-behalf of African Youth around the Green Economy negotiations
with a Youth perspective on the common African Union Position.
ü Many more actions
following the memorable July 2011 Summit on accelerating youth empowerment for
sustainable development in Africa in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
The
African Union believes young people should be an integral part of social and
economic development. Today, Africa is the youngest continent in the world and
is projected to begin experiencing a demographic window for the next decades
should we make the right investments in our youth. This population dynamic must
appear as the strength for the continent that must work as a collective to
deliver on youth development and empowerment.
To
deliver as one on youth development and empowerment, Member States, that yet
need to do so, must expedite their efforts to sign, ratify, domesticate and
implement the African Youth Charter and national youth development plans must
be aligned with the youth decade (DPoA) together with ensuring data and
information on young people is available to inform sustainable actions and
progress reports. The commission commits to continue providing the requisite
technical assistance to this end to member states and the concerned stakeholders.
The
African Union Commission wishes to associate itself to the celebration of the
African Youth Day 2012 to congratulate the African youth for their respective
efforts in the capacity building process, and to all its partners and
stakeholders working closely with us to build robust institutions to empower
our greatest resources that are the youth, I express my deep gratitude.
Finally, on
the auspice of the celebration of the African Youth Day 2012, I call upon all
stakeholders including Member States, the Pan-African Youth Union, Regional
Economic Communities, Private Sector, NGO's, UN agencies, bilateral and multi-lateral
and development partners to synergize efforts in delivering as ONE on Youth
development and empowerment in Africa.
The
African Union Commission commits itself to work together with its key partners
to deliver as ONE on Youth development and empowerment and ensure that Africa's
young people are playing their role in the decision-making process by working
side by side with their leaders in the Member States, the Regional Economic
Communities and at continental level.
Long live Africa!
God bless the African youth!
