A two-day event organized African Union in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Youth. The event will show progress on the 1 Million by 2021 Initiative, and unveil the 1 Million Next Level project.
Africa has about 420 million young people aged 15 to 35 and this number is expected to increase to 830 million by 2050. Approximately 46% of Africa’s labour force will be young people aged 15-34 by 2063. Presently the youth face significant challenges in accessing key development resources such as education, skills and employment; they experience barriers to engagement that would enable them to contribute to society.
In April 2019, the African Union (AU) rolled out a new initiative the, 1 Million By 2021, which aims to reach a million young people in Africa by creating opportunities for youth to actively and meaningfully drive the full realisation of Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The initiative was launched at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia, during a four-day Pan African Forum organised under the theme ‘Africa Unite for Youth: Bridging the gap and reaching African Youth”. It brought together over 400 young people from across the continent to co-create solutions identified around the key areas of Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education and Engagement (4E’s) to accelerate socioeconomic development on the continent. The 1 Million By 2021 Initiative will address the roots of the problems facing youth and identifies gaps such as the mismatch of qualifications and work force requirements, limited or restricted youth participation in leadership and governance structures, insufficient number of teachers at secondary and vocational level and young entrepreneurs’ limited access to investment capital, among many other issues.
