Dakar — Leveraging Africa's demographic dividend for future growth and prosperity is criticalif the continent is to leave no one behind as it surges ahead with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Africa's Agenda 2063, says Ms. Thoko Ruzvidzo, Economic Commission for Africa's Social Development Policy Director.
In her presentation in a side event on what leaving no one behind actually looks like in Africa at the ongoing fourth African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD), Ms. Ruzvidzo said more than 10-12 million African youth were joining the labour force each year but not finding any jobs.
"We need to examine the severity of youth unemployment on the continent in the context of the current population dynamics in Africa. While this growth provides the opportunity for a demographic dividend, it also presents the risk of soaring rates of youth unemployment," she said.
Suitable policies and investments have to be put in place, backed by necessary investments in health and education to develop high quality human capital to get the dividend of a young population, she added.
The youth bulge can be a huge asset, and an opportunity to mobilize this reservoir of human capacity towards Africa's economic and social transformation.
"To be an asset, young Africans must be productively employed. Otherwise, the youth bulge might instead become a source of socio-political instability," said Ms. Ruzvidzo, adding policies for social, political and economic development need to recognize the importance of young people, especially in promoting social progress and maximizing economic performance.
Leaving no one behind, she said, requires identifying the farthest behind first but requisite tools are needed to identify those who are excluded.
"The most marginalized groups are more vulnerable to external shocks that can reduce their productive capacities and push them back or further into poverty, and thus exclude them from enjoying the benefits of economic growth," said Ms. Ruzvidzo.
She shared with participants two tools that the ECA has developed over the past few years.
These are the African Gender Development Index and African Social Development Index, which was designed to estimate human exclusion throughout the individual life cycle.
The ASDI builds on the premise that exclusion can have different manifestations at different stages of life.
"Countries need to define policies that address the various patterns of exclusion over the life-cycle, to avoid the cumulative impact of being excluded," said Ms. Ruzvido.
Based on this framework, the ASDI measures the differential impacts of exclusion based on gender and location. This allows experts to capture inequalities within countries and among social groups that would otherwise remain unaccounted for.
The findings have been applied to guide development-planning processes and improve policy targeting at the local levels and for different population groups, most often women.
