Addressing
War, Urbanization, and Africa’s Youth at Risk
Africa
February– August 2003
 Urban
youth living in Africa’s cities face a myriad of
complex problems. In addition to persistent pervasive
urban unemployment, they face water and housing shortages,
collapsing school and health facilities, high crime rates,
a prevalence HIV/AIDS and other diseases, a tottering
economic environment, and ever-increasing populations
due to urban migration. BEPS has produced a study that
analyzes the challenges these youth face and proposes
recommendations for improving youth employment opportunities
and young urbanites’ participation in civil society.
This study argues that African cities not only make sense,
but that their wealth of youthful residents constitute
a largely untapped resource for ingenuity, stability,
and economic growth. It presents commonly held perceptions
of Africa’s cities and its urban youth which are
overwhelmingly negative and do not recognize or appreciate
the contributions of urban youth. The paper then looks
into the lives of African urban youth, particularly those
who affected by conflict, and why they are so attracted
to city life. The core of paper’s analysis focuses
on the irony of how urban youth are a demographic majority
which sees itself as an outcast minority.
The report concludes
with suggestions for transforming how urban youth are
perceived, engaged, and ultimately
included in urban Africa’s civil societies and
economies. It recommends targeting the marginalized youth
majority, designing emphatically inclusive programs,
actively encouraging female youth participation, developing
holistic programs, drawing from existing entrepreneurial
skills when developing vocational training, fostering
trust by providing access to capital, creating effective
networks with existing youth programs, and maintaining
ongoing program evaluations and revisions.
Resources:
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