African youths between the ages of 15 and 24 account for 60% of joblessness on the continent. A lack of investment in the youth, coupled with weak social infrastructure, could lead to further instability and violence on the continent.
This was according to Farai Mubaiwa, founder of the Africa Matters Initiative, which is an organisation promoting youth-led entrepreneurship.
“I think that we’ll all be very disappointed if the next generation of young Africans are still born into a continent that’s called ‘the continent of despair and no hope’. We really have an opportunity to change that now,” said Mubaiwa.
Mubaiwa shared this information in her address at the annual human rights conference of the United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch student chapter.
Former public protector, Thuli Madonsela, addresses those attending the United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch human rights conference via Microsoft Teams. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
The conference, which took place via Microsoft Teams on 17 and 18 April, involved keynote addresses and public engagements aimed at exploring social issues brought to the fore by the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference was attended by 53 participants.
“The theme for this year was the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it had on five focus areas: education, youth unemployment, race, gender and mental health,” said Nandipha Calana, human rights coordinator of UNASA Stellenbosch. “This applies to campus because the purpose of this conference is to equip the youth with skills to go out there and solve these issues,” she added.
Among the many guest speakers was Prof Thuli Madonsela, who spoke to the public about those issues that she considers important to address going forward.
The theme for the United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch human rights conference was the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Nandipha Calana, human rights coordinator for UNASA Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi.
Madonsela focused on the shift to online work and education caused by the lockdown in 2020, and questioned the accessibility of this shift. “There was no consideration of who currently has digital access…and in a country like ours, where students from [the] Northern Cape are living in villages, there’s no connectivity,” said Madonsela in her conference address.
Madonsela also invoked the South African Constitution and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in her vision for progress. “A society where there will not just be friendship across colour, but across class, nationality, ethnicity and gender. Your sexual orientation would not matter. All that would matter is that you are human,” she said.
The United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch human rights subcommittee prepares for the first day of the human rights conference. Pictured from left to right: Tajme Maharaj, Nandipha Calana, Dale Van Reenen. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi.
Other guest speakers at the event included Rev Alan Storey, who delivered a workshop on white privilege, and representatives of the Zero Dropout Campaign, a national organisation that aims to halve the school dropout rate by 2030.
According to Zero Dropout, around 40% of grade one learners will drop out of the schooling system before the end of matric.