Uganda to co-host APRM Youth Symposium

By Baboloki Semele

Uganda is geared to co-host the third edition of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) youth symposium from the fourth to the ninth of July this year in Kampala.

The APRM is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by AU member States as an African self-monitoring mechanism. It is often described as “Africa’s unique and innovative approach to governance” with the objective of improving governance dynamics at the local, national and continental levels.

The APRM covers four thematic governance areas of democracy and political governance, economic management and governance, corporate governance, and socioeconomic development. As an assessment and monitoring tool, the APRM also helps to track progress towards meeting regional and international development aspirations and commitments including the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The APRM has prioritized youth mainstreaming as the critical element for building prosperous, secure, and self-sustaining African economies. The continent has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. Therefore, the AU’s Agenda 2063 aspiration 6 aims to foster an Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially youth where they are all actively involved in decision-making in all aspects of development, including social, economic, political and environmental.

Therefore, positioning, empowering, and engaging the youth in governance processes is a cornerstone to sustainable development. Africa, therefore, has no choice but to leverage and harness the economic and social benefits of a young and growing dynamic population because it is only if these new generations are fully empowered to realize their best potential and engaged in the governance processes that Africa will advance.

In light of the above, according to the concept note availed to this publication, the APRM is intentionally putting the youth at the center of governance matters, and the APRM Continental Secretariat requested the Government of Uganda to organize the 3rd APRM Continental Youth Symposium from the 4th – 7th July 2022.

The concept note adds that the general objective of the symposium is to develop recommendations for empowering youth to contribute meaningfully to the Socio-economic transformation of their respective countries. The specific objectives among others include empowerment of the youth to participate in governance, leadership, and development; strengthening the role of the youth in the implementation of the Africa Union Agenda 2063, SDGs, and related country aspirations; assessing the role of the youth in domestic resource Mobilization and control of illicit financial flows; promotion of a continental platform for dialogue in sharing and harnessing opportunities within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area; and intensify the implementation of the objectives of the south-south triangular cooperation.

In order to achieve the aforementioned specific objectives of the Symposium, the Government of Uganda in collaboration with the AU and the APRM Secretariat, Development Partners including the European Union and the French Embassy has slated key presentations and discussions on selected themes that are relevant in empowering the youth.

For instance, youth unemployment and underemployment are some of the global fundamental development challenges that this 3rd Africa Youth APRM Continental Symposium will be deliberating on. There will be a particular focus on Africa, which is currently undergoing a demographic transition.

It is estimated that there are on average, about eleven million youth entering the job market in Africa annually, in contrast to only about three million new jobs, thereby creating an annual estimated jobs gap of about eight million.

Taking no action, therefore, is not an option given that Africa’s youths are its biggest asset and the driver of sustainable economic growth.

There are a number of topics to be covered during the symposium including innovative approaches to sustainable youth employment, with which a robust discussion will be held to discuss the effectiveness of the current strategies deployed by the member countries to address youth unemployment.

The other objectives are to analyze the effectiveness of these strategies and evaluate the impact. It will consider the reforms and changes that need to be made in planning and policy and make recommendations for implementing more robust and effective measures to holistically tackle the challenges of youth unemployment and underemployment. T

The other topic of interest will be Youth and Governance, specifically to give participants an opportunity to analyze and consider the contribution that the youth make to the organizations in their settings, and youth perspective on industry or organization. It will cover building self-confidence, connecting youth to community and industry issues, and principles of volunteering in making contributions to the betterment of society.

The symposium will also look into the Role of the Youth in the transfer of Science, Technology, and Innovation with the aim to enlighten the youth on how they can ensure they are part of the global trends in technological development and the power of innovation for prosperity and scion-economic transformation of their lives and the lives of their communities.

The six-day symposium will also tackle the role the Youth should play in combating climate change as anecdotal evidence shows that the youth can play a major role in combating climate change.

Youth education represents one of the most effective tools to combat the destructive potential of climate change and cultivate an international understanding among members of the next generation since it is a long-term process that will impact an infinite number of future generations.

Participants will engage in deliberations around how Women’s sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, and the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination.

The session will also deliberate on the role of the youth in tackling unsafe food and poor quality products which are affecting the health and market competitiveness of foods and products, limited social protection services, and coverage across the countries to deal with the vulnerable.

In light of the above, the Symposium will be graced and opened by the President of the Republic of Uganda on the 5th of July 2022. It will be addressed by high-profile and renowned speakers and personalities from the UN, AU, and the different parts of the world as well as scholars and successful young entrepreneurs with educative messages for the youth. The overall theme of the symposium is “AU@20: Repositioning the youth agenda for a transformative continent.”