Take the lead and own the ESA Commitment as a key joint platform for addressing the needs of young people, supported closely by the RECs, COMESA, EAC and SADC.
Prioritize increased access to CSE and SRH services for all girls and boys – in and out of school, regardless of marital or pregnancy status – to address the disturbingly low HIV and AIDS knowledge levels among young people and the challenges they still face in accessing SRH services.
Recognize the strategic significance of working across sectors (education, health gender, justice, and youth) to support joint action, while increasing domestic financing for young people’s SRH programmes.
Invest in programmes that encourage girls to remain in school; ensure that schools are safe and equitable places for learning; support access to SRH services for young people; enforce legislation to eliminate child marriage; strengthen child protection systems, with an emphasis on legal reform; and strengthen norms and standards that eliminate discrimination based on gender.
Prioritize filling the gaps in knowledge and evidence around adolescents’ and young people’s health, education and rights. To ensure that interventions and resources are well targeted, there is a need to strengthen data collection mechanisms at all levels, while that data is definitely dis-aggregated by sex, age economics status, and geographical location.
Continue working together towards a common vision of a young African, a global citizen, who is empowered, educated, healthy, resilient, and socially responsible – an autonomous decision-maker who has the capacity to reach their full potential and contribute to the development of their community, country, and the region.
Young People Today is a platform that supports implementation of the ESA Ministerial Commitment on access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Youth-Friendly Health Services.
