Trained Youth: A step towards Sustainable Development in Africa

Shawgei Salah Ahmed

The concept of sustainable development, a development that meets current needs without affecting the capacity for future generations to meet their needs through focusing on the three areas of economic, social, and environmental development.

This is while taking into account population density and factors of internal migration from the countryside to cities, and external migration from poor countries in the third world to rich countries, and the mutual influences between these factors.

The general state of sustainable development in Africa is very far from what is required.

The role of youth is to enter forcefully to put an overall strategy in place. The second stage lies in setting goals and developing them into actual plans.

It is not possible to achieve these goals without the availability of the required resources, which include people, and human resources management should be part of the process by which people are identified, their benefits reviewed, as well as methods to obtain and manage them are reviewed.

The status of young people from leading sustainable development in Africa

The current reality of the African youth still fluctuates between the old generations; with the power in government looking with doubtful eyes and suspicion about the ability of young people to take responsibility, especially on fateful issues.

On the part of the last generation, the young man has to prove his eligibility to drive.

It is now required of the younger generations in Africa to achieve sustainable development with current and future human resources, through an action plan closely linked to the organization’s strategic plan; strategic training that would serve human resources and achieve sustainable development that serves future generations of workers.

Is the African case a generational conflict, or clash of ideas?

These questions must be asked and the answer is to be expected from leaders from previous generations, who will lead these societies during the next coming years.

What kind of leadership do we want? How can we equip these leaders? How do we make sure that they are ready to take responsibility? What programs should be established to sharpen the capabilities of youth?

Answering these questions will draw up a roadmap for the role of African youth towards society through voluntary organizations, and other youth activities led by a future-conscious vanguard.

Taking into account the specialized points in human development that includes better use of the workforce by providing higher levels of employment, improving workforce quality through professional education and training, stimulating popular support for development efforts, patriotism, and the inclusion of the broadest social groups.

The importance of African youth activities lies in supporting the development and providing valuable information for decision-makers on the continent to make decisions right, as two-thirds of Africa’s population live in an information vacuum, where the state controls all broadcast.

The majority of voters cannot make the right decisions because they lack information about the internal condition of their country.

The important issue related to African youth activities is the adoption of development as a strategic choice that has its origins in the individual and individual issues related to it on the one hand and work to achieve it requires a collective effort by human groups on the other hand.

Development must be humane, based on the desire and interests of each society and it must reflect its identity and civilization, and every individual in the community must yearn to obtain benefits from this development and the thought be directed economically to abolish (the economic man) and replace him with (the human economy).

The intellectual concepts related to development are intertwined and complex and this research works on setting starting points from which to spread awareness to the great masses.

Those masses are able with their effective participation to solve complex development issues. The activities of African youth in all these stages are considered a means and cornerstone for the beginning of work.

The way forward, towards the better future

Talking about the future needs deep thinking about the current crisis that African youth are suffering from.
In addition to envisioning the required future, something unimaginable cannot be planned to draw a map of the future.

The first step is to know the needs of each country separately in terms of reality so that there is no one sole plan that would work on all cases of development in Africa.

But in general, there are steps that all African countries need, such as curriculum reform geared towards entrepreneurial skills and jobs in the private sector, increasing focus on the locally relevant diploma and certificate programs rather than increasing the production of university graduates, and adopting a system of recognizable and capable degrees.

For easy comparison, adopting a system based on undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, encouraging mobility of students and faculty members, training and student opportunities should be accessible to students, all faculty members such as faculty, professors, and researchers must have access to services related to their fields of study.

In the end, it can be said that the plans imported from overseas may be beneficial in some short-term aspects, but the plan is compatible with the customs, traditions, and real needs of the local communities in Africa. From three to five years of continuous work to see results, but the question that must be raised is: Does Africa have patience for these trees to bear fruit?

Shawgei Salah is a researcher, writer, environmentalist and a member of the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF). He can be contacted at Shwgy2000@gmail.com