Mzansi president Cyril Ramaphosa has called for leaders
across the globe to join hands in tackling the issues faced by youth in Africa.
Ramaphosa was speaking at the 73rd session of the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York, USA on Tuesday.
In his speech, Ramaphosa highlighted the plight of unemployment and called for world governments to put the interests of young people at the centre of their efforts.
“We are a young world, where more than half the global population is under the age of 30 years,” he said.
“This is even more pronounced on our continent, Africa, where two-thirds of its people were not yet born when Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
“We are living in the Age of Youth.”
He said that young people are the ones fighting wars that the previous generation started.
He said that the United Nations has the onus to “act with purpose to prevent the loss of an entire generation to its aftermath.”
In his address, he said that the exclusion of women and young people from meaningful economic participation is a great challenge.
“It is therefore vital that we deploy every means at our disposal to address youth unemployment and ensure universal access to educational opportunities that are appropriate to the changing world of work,” he said.
“We need a deliberate programme to ensure that the digital revolution – which carries such great potential for both disruption and empowerment – is effectively harnessed to promote social justice and human progress.”
