Addis Ababa — Chaired by Heba Ramzy of RITSEC, Egypt, the youth group identified a number of concerns they shared as the future working population and leaders in Africa. Acknowledging that ICTs had impacted on all aspects of their lives, the rapporteur said that the information revolution was fast penetrating the social and economic structures in Africa.
ICTs and the Internet, they said, could be used to build the knowledge base of the youth as well as promote collaborative projects through youth networking. Employment opportunities for young people in information services and industries should also be fostered.
The youth group stressed that ICT human resources development should target the youth, so that young people could be better prepared to cope with the new age, filling gaps and meeting local needs. Apart from information access, new thinking and analytical as well as technical skills were required, if African youth were to hold their own amongst the youth of the world. The SchoolNet programme in South Africa, the Mount Kenya Telecommunications Project, and Egypt's 2Ist Century Clubs were illustrative examples of the types of ICT projects that appropriately involved the youth as managers and as users. The youth were very interested in using ICTs and in helping to build web content, as part of the knowledge-based expertise demanded in the new millennium.
Floor interventions lauded the performance and presence of youth at the Forum, and endorsed their energy, enthusiasm and creativity. However, they were urged to remember their cultural heritage and responsibilities and to not succumb to the cultural disequilibrium that could arise with penetration of ICTs. The youth responded that change was unavoidable, but ICTs should be seen as positive, giving new perspectives and opportunities to their lives. FAO mentioned illustratively that the World Food Day in Rome had focused on youth and hunger, and recommended that youth should be supplied with land, agricultural skills and other inputs so that they could carve out employment for themselves and play their part in food security. The force of the youth could be used to ease hunger in the world.
In Tunisia, it was noted, some 400 cybercafes and cyberbars were largely managed by young people who had previously been without jobs. Governments, private sectors and NGOs were urged to likewise trust the youth, involve them, and support their start-up programmes in business with credit, training and advisory services, despite their lack of experience. A total mobilization of the youth would undoubtedly help with poverty reduction and eradication in Africa and enhance the economic environment, besides serving the purpose of getting them off the streets and away from crime and drugs.
Youth should be encouraged and enabled, both boys and girls, to go to school at all levels, but the schools needed to teach more relevant courses, to help the youth meet the resource gaps in national production and employment.
For more information on the Forum or to interview participants, please contact: Peter da Costa Senior Communication Adviser Economic Commission for Africa P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Fax: +251-1-51 03 65 Cell: +251-9-20 17 94 E-mail: dacosta@un.org or ecainfo@un.org Web: http://www.un.org/depts/eca
