Celebration of Youth Day: “Young leaders’ contribution in connecting green and digital transformation agendas in African cities and territories“ 

On the occasion of the International Youth Day celebrated every year on 12 August, UCLG Africa and its network of the Young Elected Local Officials (YELO), in collaboration with the Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP) and the migration working group of the Major Group on Children and Youth (MGCY) of the United Nations, organized a virtual meeting on the “Young leaders’ contribution in connecting green and digital transformation agendas in African cities and territories”. Echoing the theme chosen by the Secretary General of the United Nations “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World”, the meeting had several objectives, including sharing best practice in sustainable local entrepreneurship and involving young people in the green and digital transformation of African cities and territories. 

Some thirty participants took part in the discussion, which was moderated by Mistura Oyebandji, Project Manager for Local Authorities, Migration Youth & Children Platform-MGCY. Among the main speakers were the Vice-President for West Africa of UCLG Africa’s Network of the Young Elected Local Officials (YELO), Hon. Abubakar Buba and Mr. Florencio Venté, Co-Director of the Migration youth and Children platform, shared their views on the relationship between youth and green and digital transformation.  

After the presentation of the session by the moderator, who recalled the importance of young people’s contribution to job creation and the opportunity they have today to change the course of events, the opening remarks were made by Ms. Jacqueline Moustache-Belle, Director of the Gender & Youth Department at UCLG Africa. 

Ms. Moustache-Belle briefly introduced UCLG Africa and its newly established YELO network. She then underlined why it is important to have young Africans involved in the 2 themes chosen for this meeting, namely the digital transformation and the green transformation of our cities and our continent. The future of the continent and our cities depends on their involvement, particularly in terms of political, economic and cultural choices. She invited the MGCY platform to take a greater interest in young political leaders, because it is politics that manages and makes the choices in our societies. 

Mr. Florencio Venté, Co-Director of the Migration Youth and Children Platform, presented his organization and their role in the various initiatives and the youth perspective they bring to them (United Nations, GFMD, Global Compact, etc.). Emphasizing the role of young leaders, he highlighted their capacity to “Transform” and the impact they have on future generations at the local, national, regional and international level. He welcomed the outstretched hand of UCLG Africa through the YELO network, which will enable to reach out to and engage even more young people in the development of communities. 

With the intervention of the Honorable Abubakar Buba, Chaiperson of Lere Local Government (Kaduna State, Nigeria), participants were given some concrete elements on the involvement of young, elected representatives on the issues of the “green revolution”. Underlining the fact that Africa is blessed, particularly its municipalities, which are 90% agrarian, it is important to develop green skills to ensure food self-sufficiency, first locally, then regionally. In his region, young people are involved in the production of sugar cane, maize and beans. To encourage young people to get more involved and acquire the necessary knowledge, technical partnerships have been set up in his community to strengthen the ecological footprint of production in association with Kaduna State University, which provides technical expertise. This partnership has led to the creation of a Cluster, a community of practice for young people and women in which they are introduced to modern, environmentally friendly production techniques. This initiative has created a positive image for the locality and at the same time reduced idleness among young people, as well as the level of insecurity in the town. According to the Honorable Buba, green jobs do not require a diploma, just a willingness to work. He also encouraged young people not only to take part in agriculture, but also in arboriculture, to help build green cities, with more green spaces, thanks in particular to ecological trees. On digital transformation, since the COVID 19 pandemic, efforts have been made to facilitate this transition towards a more connected city. In his speech, the Hon. Mr. Buba pointed out that his local municipality, Lere, currently has 40% young people in its government. This made a difference during the pandemic, as those with digital skills were able to progress further with their acquired skills. 

Following the speech by the Chairperson of Lere Local Government, Mr. Florencio Venté shared the experience of Mr. Emmanuel Omiat, Founder of the Risk Project, who, with his organization, is building the capacities of young people, women and in particular refugees in the agriculture and digital marketing sectors in Uganda. His project, which is proving a success with migrants, receives funding enabling beneficiaries, particularly women and young girls, to become genuinely independent of UNHCR aid.  

In the discussion phase, Hon. George Mwanza, Mayor of Chipata (Zambia), expressed his satisfaction that young leaders were interested in the issue of green skills for young people. In Chipata, as a border town (25km from Malawi), the town council organizes agricultural training sessions for young people to create backyard gardens and farms. This initiative is now enabling a number of young people to earn extra income from the sale of vegetables. In the same town, another initiative set up by the municipal team involves planting trees and creating a database of the trees planted. He was impressed by the eagerness of the young people to participate and the speed with which they acquired the skills taught. Like the previous speaker, he was impressed by the way in which young people’s involvement is changing the general situation and raised the fact that, although the voting age in his home country is 18, candidates for election must be 35 or over to stand. 

Hon. Geoge Mwanza and Hon. Abubakar Buba each said a few words about the participation of young people in politics. They called for more and more young people to be involved in territorial governance, particularly in executive bodies, to promote young people’s vision of the environment and employment, particularly self-employment. 

Finally, the participants shared a number of recommendations for the two organizations:  

– Create a platform for discussion between the two organizations on youth employment issues  

– Develop training programmes for young people in the agricultural sector 

– Promote and support reforestation programmes and the creation of green spaces