UNFPA ESARO celebrates International Youth Day 2015 with the launch of Safeguard Young People Music Album
INVESTING IN THE POWER OF YOUNG PEOPLE, TRANSFORMING OUR WORLD
“The African continent has the youngest population in the world. Young people are our human capital; we have to invest in them so that we can secure economic growth and sustainability.” – Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Regional Director, UNFPA ESARO
Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg, 12 August 2015 – Today the United Nations Population Fund East and Southern Africa (UNFPA ESARO) launched the Safeguard Young People music album in celebration of International Youth Day (IYD).
In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly designated 12 August as IYD, an annual celebration of the role of young women and men as essential partners in change. It provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges and hardships facing the world’s youth and celebrates the potential of youth as drivers of change towards a more just, equitable and prosperous society.
The theme for IYD 2015 is Youth Civic Engagement, highlighting the importance of engaging young people in political, economic and social decision-making.
Youth Civic Engagement, a key goal of the United Nations System-Wide Action Plan on Youth (Youth-SWAP), seeks to promote young people’s effective inclusive civic engagement at all levels. Recently, there has been an increase in the focus on policy and programming on youth civic engagement by governments, United Nations (UN) entities, regional and multilateral organisations, Civil Society Organisations, youth and researchers.
The engagement and participation of youth is essential to achieve sustainable human development. Yet often the opportunities for youth to engage politically, economically and socially are low or non-existent. When empowered and involved, young people can be key agents of peace, development and advancement.
Yet more needs to be done to raise awareness about the importance of youth civic engagement and its benefits to the individual and society, including for sustainable development as well as resilience and wellbeing.
Today, across the world, discussions will take place to engage both Member States and the general public to understand the needs of young people, to implement policies to help them overcome the challenges they face, and to encourage young people to contribute via decision-making processes.
Safeguard Young People Programme
In November last year, UNFPA ESARO launched the Safegaurd Young People Programme (SYP). The Programme identifies and supports comprehensive interventions for adolescents and young people in Southern Africa through a multisectoral approach. This includes policy development, integrated HIV and sexual health services, comprehensive sexuality education and participation in activities that empower young people.
Safeguard Young People Music Album
The album was produced by seven talented young artists from countries participating in the SYP. The countries are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The album is a tool to engage in adolescent sexual and reproductive health dialogues with young people, both in and out of school. It aims to increase awareness on adolescent sexual reproductive health (ASRH) and to strengthen linkages between SRH and HIV services among young people. More importantly, UNFPA ESARO hopes that the album will generate a demand for the uptake of contraceptives by young people.
For further information please contact:
Adebayo Fayoyin, UNFPA ESARO Regional Communications Adviser
fayoyin@unfpa.org;+27 11 6035308 / +27 79 5170320
