New York — Africa Youth Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif
Africa has the youngest population in the world today. Around 40% of the population is 15 or younger. They have a non-negotiable right to an inclusive and continued quality education, just like young people everywhere across the globe.
As we celebrate Africa Youth Day - and the African Union year of education - we call on world leaders to substantially increase investments in education across the African continent. We can no longer leave them behind. It is time to put them at the forefront.
It is inconceivable that only one in ten children aged 10 in sub-Saharan Africa can read and comprehend a sentence. This is a distressing fact and cause for real alarm.
The potential of the children and adolescents of Africa is unlimited. I have seen their eagerness to learn, their gratitude for every opportunity and their powerful desire to get an education - from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and beyond.
Sadly, another fact remains: the needs far exceed the financial resources available - especially on the frontlines of armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate change.
Fact is that we can collectively change this. Between 2000 and 2022 primary school completion rates across the region rose from 52% to 67%, and about half of students were able to complete lower secondary education, according to analysis by UNESCO.
In all 17 million young Africans are in university today, and more girls than ever before are able to attend school.
This progress, however, fails to present a full picture of education in Africa. "Of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion. Over one-fifth of children between the ages of about 6 and 11 are out of school, followed by one-third of youth between the ages of about 12 and 14. Almost 60% of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school," according to UNESCO.
Our collective support is now more urgent than ever. It is the smart thing to do for economic progress. It is the right thing to do for equality and equity. It is the least we can do for the people with such immense potentials and yearning to study, to become and to live a full life.
As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our strategic partners are working tirelessly to create sustainable education and lifelong learning pathways for all of Africa's children and youth.
According to our latest Annual Results Report, ECW investments reached over 900,000 children in East Africa with quality learning supports in 2023 alone. In West and Central Africa, we reached over 1.8 million!
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In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, young mothers like Meda are realizing their dreams of finishing school. In Chad, where the Sudan regional refugee crisis is straining budgets and resources, girls like Khadidja Abdoulaye are gaining valuable vocational skills in sewing, mechanics and gardening.
This is what collective support can achieve. It gives us a peek into what the African continent of young people can achieve - not just for themselves, but for all of us.
IPS UN Bureau
