Every 12th day of August is earmarked as International Youth Day. It is a day set aside for to give young people an opportunity to air their voices; take action; and also
take initiatives that will foster meaningful and productive engagements. Amidst the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, the IYD 2020 is worth celebrating because it presents an opportunity to discuss novel ways through which young people all over the world, and particularly in Africa, can be productively engaged in global actions. It was also an opportunity to discuss the emerging opportunities embedded in the pandemic.
In line with the ARUA CoE-USD mission of developing innovative solutions to youth employment challenges in Africa, this webinar engaged eminent young academic scholars, industrialists, and entrepreneurs to discuss the broad theme: “Leveraging SDG #8 to Achieve Youth Engagement for Global Actions: How are African
Youths Faring?”. Discussants for this event were selected from the academia, business sectors, industry, government and civil society players and actors in Africa and the diaspora. Through the numerous conversations that circled around “Access to financial services as enabler for youth engagement for global action”, “Decent jobs creation as an enabler for youth engagement for global action”, “Education and training as an
enabler for youth engagement for global action”, and others, the need for youth to leverage on COVID 19 as a pathway for creating and exploiting new opportunities was established. Participants recorded an increased awareness of the need for African youth to develop work-relevant skills that match the demands of the future world of work. Facilitators identified volunteering, education and training, decent jobs, access to finance, agricpreneurship, and inclusiveness driven by technology and innovation as enablers of opportunity exploitation for youth in the new normal.