Celebrating International Youth Day 2016

The International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 annually. The theme for this year is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.” The theme focuses specifically on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 12). According to un.org, sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.

With a population of over 1.8 billion youth, the world has never been this young. Youth are powerful agents of positive change, essential to taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.“

“I invite governments, foundations, civil society organizations, and the youth movement to mark the day by highlighting the positive contributions of youth in development and by pledging to engage with youth as partners in the implementation of the SDGs,” said the UN Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi ahead of the event.

Happy International Youth Day 2016!

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Youth Up for the Environment

The environment is important for the survival of mankind; therefore mankind must ensure the survival of the environment. The environment has the ability to sustain itself but the action of man keeps posing constant and continual threat to the environment. The use of machines resulting in the release of excess carbon to the atmosphere, production processes that leaves many pollutants, and indiscriminate waste disposal contribute to the environmental degradation.

The African Youth Corner (AYC) collaborated with Standing for Environmental Restoration (SOFER) in carrying out an environmental sustainability project. The project which held in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, saw members of both organisations working hand-in-hand to collect waste from traders at a neighborhood market and educating the traders and locals on how to properly package and dispose their waste. Adopting the method of recycling, reducing and reusing, the team broke into smaller groups and went on to collect waste materials in the different categories. The climax of the exercise was when the team took control of a popular dump site in front of the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH). The dump site which had been filled to the brim was a sanctuary for flies and other vectors. The teams scrubbed up, wearing gloves and nose mask and took the pains of properly packaging the waste in bags before the  agency in charge of final disposal would come to take the waste away. Other highlight of the exercise included distribution of waste baskets to traders and shop owners in the area and further engaging the beneficiaries in discussions that were aimed at effecting behavioural changes.

As the founder of the African Youth Corner, Jude Ogar says: “It is our collective responsibility to ensure a cleaner, safer and sustainable environment.”

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Celebrating the International Literacy Day

As the world all over celebrate today as the International Literacy Day, it is important to know that some 775 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women; 60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

Literacy is the key driver for sustainable development. Literacy skills are the prerequisite for the learning of a broader set of knowledge, skills, attitude and value, required for creating sustainable societies.

September 8 was first proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965 and was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, and societies.

From the data collected in the UNESCO’s “Global Monitoring Report on Education for All”, sub-Saharan-Africa stood at second from the bottom on the list of regions with the lowest adult literacy rate with an average 59.7%; while West-Asia stood as the region with the lowest adult literacy rate with an average of 58.6%.

The level of literacy of a region determines to a larger extent the rate of development of that society. For Africa to rise from the bottom of the development chain, we need to put more effort in education: adult education, girl child education, health education and global education. If we must succeed and be recognized in the world, then we must embrace education and literacy.

If we would conquer terrorism, poverty, hunger and disease and mismanagement of resources, then we need to a high literacy level among citizens of African countries.