Eastern Africa: Youth State Their Stance on the MDGs

By Peter Omondi

Nairobi, Kenya-- – The United Nations Association of Uganda (UNAU) held its inaugural youth conference on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on September 29th and 30th at the United Nations headquarters in Africa, Nairobi with the support of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC).

The theme of the conference was, “Biodiversity – Finding our Convergence in Divergent Environment Management and Sustainable Development,” and drew participants from six Eastern African countries. The aim of the conference was to engage the Eastern African youth in discussions on their roles in combating biodiversity loss as well as motivating the young people to act underlining the International Year of Youth 2010/2011.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms. Eshila Maravanyika, the UNIC Deputy Director urged the delegates to be proactive in helping their nations achieve the MDGs. She further reiterated that the United Nations supported youth-run initiatives globally.  In his presentation to the delegates, Patterson Siema, the Head of Communications at UNDP said, “Although no country in sub-Saharan Africa is on course to achieve all the Goals by 2015, it is imperative to stress that “with political will, adequate resources and concerted efforts, the MDGs can be met even in the poorest and most disadvantaged countries”. He added that many poor countries have recorded impressive successes in some of the goals.

The two day conference drew to a close with the country youth representatives signing a joint declaration on their position on achievement of the MDGs. This was followed by a tree planting ceremony at the UN Gigiri complex. Throughout the sessions, the youth were exhorted to utilize networking opportunities availed to them so as to boost the impact of their initiatives. 

With less than five years left to the year 2015 deadline for achievement of the MDGs, it is becoming increasingly apparent that if the targets are going to be met, a more concerted effort needs to be made. Such an effort must incorporate multi-sectoral approaches through governments, UN agencies and their partners, civil society groups and most importantly the citizens of the world – of whom the youth constitute nearly 30 per cent.

The conference participants were drawn from five countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, the DRC and Nigeria, and were mainly comprised of University students.