Regional leaders meet in Nairobi, Kenya, to fight youth unemployment (PR 1-24.07.2014)

24 Jul 2014

Regional leaders meet in Nairobi, Kenya, to fight youth unemployment (PR 1-24.07.2014)

Nairobi, 24 July 2014 – Outgoing Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region of Africa, Mrs. Mary Robinson, addressed the extraordinary Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, between 19 and 24 July 2014, to address the question of youth unemployment, and to make recommendations on how to mitigate its effects on individual countries or on the region as whole, where over half of the population is made up of young people, and unemployment rate is around 34%.

The summit resulted in the establishment of a “Youth Forum” of the member States of the ICGLR with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. It will seek to: (1) provide a platform for interactive and meaningful youth engagement in the ICGLR member states; (2) be a key facility for information and research on youth development and empowerment; (3) advocate for, and recommend policies that promote youth development in member states; (4) support and enhance capacity and skills development for youth in the region; (5) advocate and work against all forms of sexual and gender based violence and the protection of civilians including youth, women and children; and (6) ensure effective resource mobilization for the programmes and projects of the Youth Forum.