Where are the African adolescents and youth in the SDGs? Working together for their health, well-being and agency

A side event at the African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD)

A thriving adolescent population leads to a flourishing society.

Numbering over 226 million, adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa make the largest proportion of the adolescent population of the world, with 23 percent of them aged 10-19 years old. The number of adolescents will continue to grow as fertility rates in the region remain high. With such a large population of young people becoming adults, supportive policies and programs on inclusive, intersecting adolescent and youth development are critical now more than ever. And if the right multi-sectoral investments in their education –including comprehensive sexuality education, environmental justice, human rights, and gender equality-, health –including mental health and SRH-, employability skills, etc. are made in adolescents and youth, especially as the world recovers from COVID, African countries can realize the enormous opportunity that this population dynamic represents, contributing to the economic and social development of their families, communities, and nations.

Adolescents and young people in the continent and everywhere have joined forces with major international agencies, civil society, and Governments to call for increased political and financial investments on a robust multi-sectoral country, regional and global response for adolescent and youth well-being coordinating education, health, labor to recover from COVID, achieve the SDGs and the Agenda 2063. They have also appealed to engage and empower adolescents in this process.