Launch of the “1 Million by 2021 Initiative”

April 24, 2019 to April 27, 2019

WHAT: Launch of the “1 Million by 2021 Initiative” at the Pan African Youth Forum themed “Africa Unite for Youth: Bridging the Gap and Reaching African Youth”
WHEN: 24th – 27th April 2019.
WHERE: The African Union Commission, Addis Ababa Ethiopia
WHO: H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, African Union Commissioner for the Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology, private sector leaders, development partners, high profile innovators, and youth co-creators.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat has today April 24, 2019 launched the “1 million by 2021 Initiative”, which targets direct investments in millions of African youth on four key elements of Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education and Engagement, through leveraging partnerships and private sector opportunities. The initiative was launched at a Pan African Youth Forum themed “Africa Unite for Youth: Bridging the Gap and Reaching African Youth”.

Young people make up the bulk of Africa’s total population with an estimated 75% of the continent’s population below the age of 35. From a demographic point of view, this calls for a paradigm shift towards the recognition and support of the youth to harness their potential by building capacity for quality education and skills improvement, health and well-being, good governance, human rights and accountability, employment opportunities, leadership skills, empowerment and entrepreneurship. This is the basis for the prioritization of youth development by the African Union Commission, as evidenced by the 2017 theme of the year, “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”.

Cognizant of the necessity to accelerate action on youth development in order to harness Africa’s huge youth potential, the Chairperson of the African Union, H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat launched the “1 million by 2021 Initiative” as a demonstration of the African Union’s commitment to young Africans. This initiative seeks to concretely provide opportunities in the key areas Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education and Engagement (4E’s) for millions of African Youth by the year 2021.

Twelve pathways have been identified as drivers for the 4Es that will facilitate the expansion of opportunities in youth development: models for teacher development, mobilizing and catalyzing capital growth for youth-led start-ups; nurture start-ups; skills transfer hubs; internships and apprenticeships; digital skills; job centers; digital skills; leadership programs and exchange programmes.
The initiative brought together key continental players in the development space and the private sector to pool together resources and opportunities, within a sustainable ecosystem built along collaborative and pan-African lines.

CAFOR was present during the launch with its Executive Director, Dr. Lawalley Cole, a member of its Executive Board, Dr. Olubunmi Owoso and a Senior Advisor (Partnerships and Resource Mobilization) at CAFOR, Mr. Tshimanga Mukadi-Mutoke.