Introduction

AACC will this year commemorate June 16, the Day of the African Child. The Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union (AU). It honors the children and the young people who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 on that day. It also raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children.

In Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, about ten thousand black school children marched in a column more than half a mile long, protesting the poor quality of their education and demanding their right to be taught in their own language. This year’s theme is “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy & Practice since 2013”.

In line with the history of 16 June, 1976 and the current challenges affecting young people in the continent AACC will celebrate this day by convening a public webinar to raise awareness on the day and Africa: My Home. My Future. campaign. The webinar question will be: Decolonizing the education system and changing the mindset in Africa. What is the role of the youth?

Background

The African continent is a host to a large population of young people. Estimates say that by the year 2050 the current youth population will be double[1]. Undoubtedly, young people are the leaders of today, who need to take up the challenge to transform Africa. As Africa’s youthful population continues to rise, there is uncertainty over the continent’s preparedness to tap this resource for economic growth. Yet the continent has challenges that are politically, economically, and socially affecting young people. 

There is widespread frustration and agitation by and among young people over limited economic opportunities, growing corruption, rising unemployment, and limited opportunities for political participation[2]. This growing frustration is increasingly manifested in migration of young people from the continent. Many young people are willing to risk drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in the quest to get to Europe and other developed countries rather than stay in the continent. The motivation for migrating is mostly to pursue economic opportunities and an environment to succeed. The reality is that most of the young people fail to succeed and end up living in appalling conditions.

The huge youth demography that should offer tremendous dividends to the continent has seemingly been seen as a mirage. Bulk of the population of the continent are victims of the plethora of vices such as irregular migration and human trafficking, violent extremism, xenophobia, drug and substance addictions. These vices and many others have continued to impact on the wellbeing of the continent and its people. It is a disturbing situation. AACC is disturbed and is optimistic that the narrative can change. Africa is immeasurably endowed with all kinds of resources including impressive human capital resources, some of whom are excellently providing global leadership in corporate and multilateral institutions, but Africa stills lags behind with leveraging on these gifts and potentials for the common good of all people. Something fundamental is missing. The search for the missing thing and link will continue until Africa is changed for the better, and this can only be achieved if the youth of Africa think and act differently in a timely manner.

The rationale of the webinar

Africa: My Home. My Future. is a continental campaign that seeks to mobilize a critical mass of youth from across the continent with an intentional focus on one of AACC’s programmatic thematic areas; “Youth and African Patriotism”. The campaign is a movement that aims to inspire young people to be and remain patriotic to their countries and Africa at large by utilizing their talents towards building a thriving continent.

The campaign led by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) will continue to create and sustain in profound ways a generational movement made up of youth living in the continent and in the diaspora. It is expected that the youth that will be mobilized within the constituency of the AACC are youth that have demonstrated some level of being patriotic and passionate about Africa. The movement will stimulate conversations amongst young people of Africa, on various issues affecting them and impacting the integrity of the continent.

In recognition of the crucial role that youth can play as agents of change, the AACC deliberately launched the campaign that will culminate in the convocation of youth biennially in different countries of choice where thousands of youth will congregate to reflect, harvest, energize, challenge, evolve and chart the agenda for Africa’s transformation while keeping their eyes on national, continental and global development agendas.

AACC is organizing a series of webinars to promote the campaign Africa: My Home. My Future. in the run up to the All Africa Youth Congress scheduled for Ghana this year from 31 October to 04 November 2022.

Main objective

Youth are inspired to contribute to the transformation of Africa.

Specific Objectives of the webinar

1. To celebrate Day of the African Child
2. To increase awareness on the campaign slogan Africa: My Home. My Future.
3. To create a viable space for connectivity and networking
4. To accelerate constructive conversations and innovative actions that display African potentialities and abundance.

Expected outcomes

1. Increased awareness of the importance of the Day of the African Child
2. Increased awareness of the campaign Africa: My Home. My Future.
3. Created potent space for youth engagements and constructive dialogue on the future of Africa

Guiding Question for the webinar

Decolonizing the education system and changing the mindset in Africa. What is the role of the youth?

Methodology

This will be held in a conversation format on zoom, where the guest speaker will respond to the webinar question in a one-on-one session. The speaker will have an opportunity to freely present in the first 30 minutes. After that, the moderator and participants will have an opportunity to converse with the speaker.

The webinar will feature a Pan African speaker.

Target beneficiaries (Participants)

100 youth leaders from the constituency of AACC in forty-three (43) African countries will be direct beneficiaries of the knowledge-based webinar that will spur them to ask critical questions and act reasonably for the greater good of their countries and the continent. Thousands of other youth will be indirect beneficiaries as the direct beneficiaries are expected to conduct stepdown engagements after the webinar.

Date

16th June 2022 Time: 12:00 GMT; 13:00 WAT; 14:00Hours CAT; 15:00 Hours EAT,

Social Media Hash tags

#AfricaMyHomeMyFuture #aaccyouth #AAYC2022 #DAC2022

Social Media handles

Twitter: @aacc_youth

Facebook: @allafricayouthcongress

Instagram: @aaccyouth

Africa: My Home. My Future Webinar Agenda

Time: 3 pm East Africa Time

Link for Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_34oYE17kRxSnJYYdK4FtpQ

[1] UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html accessed 29/01/20

[2] The 2016 Africa Economic Outlook