Students should be integral part of sustainable development debates

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The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency has called on youth and students to take more active participation in national and global debates on development.

Speaking during his second public lecture at Columbia University in New York on October 18, NEPAD Chief Executive Officer Dr Ibrahim Mayaki said African leaders and development partners should find new and effective ways to harness the energy and creativity of the Continent by ensuring that job creation strategies are at the centre of current debates on sustainable development.

Dr Mayaki cited the example of Tunisia where despite high literacy levels, infrastructure development and agricultural-led growth, youth unemployment was one of the main triggers of the Arab revolution.

The NEPAD CEO presented significant highlights on how NEPAD is integrating the Continent under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).  Dr Mayaki said that regional infrastructure was a catalyst for sustaining growth and development, particularly because Africa is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with the youth taking the greatest stake in Africa’s future.

Junior and master year students of the School for International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University discussed how to better integrate the Continent, how to ensure sustainable development for Africa, and what NEPAD’s contributions have been to Africa’s development

Dr Mayaki’s lecture took place on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly Debate on Africa, a yearly high-level platform to foster discourse around issues on Africa. The lecture at Columbia is the second of its kind, first organised 2011 to celebrate ten years of NEPAD, and has now become an annual event to interact with students from all over the world on their role in Africa’s development.

Also featured during the Lecture session  was a panel discussion by Amina Mohammed, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning; Stephen Gitonga, Policy Advisor for Environment and Energy Group, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Akbar Noman, Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University; and Minoru Takada, Policy Advisor for Energy, UN Executive Office of Secretary-General.

Mrs Mohammed said that Africa's workforce is young and growing fast. Empowering the youth must play an integral part to the Sustainable Development Goals and other post-2015 development schemes, she said.

In response, the University students stressed the need to find adequate channels to have their voices aired and so that they become part of the development process. 

 “Energy will play a huge component in in the future of the Continent. There cannot be development without access to sustainable energy for all”, said one of the students.

The NEPAD Agency is tackling the issue of energy through PIDA which is working to ensure that all people in Africa have access to modern affordable energy services by 2030.

PIDA aims to achieve this through the development of hydro power energy facilities, the effective running of high-capacity oil refineries as well as through the management of oil and gas pipeline projects. Most of the power utilities will be inter-connected through transmission corridors, which will cut across Africa from North to South and from East to West hoping to uplift African people out of extreme energy poverty.

The public lecture provided an excellent platform for the university students to understand more how NEPAD works as well as to interact directly on a very high level on profound developmental issues.