Investing in Youth

Despite their numerical majority, youth in Africa are still confronted with significant obstacles to participating in the economic, social and political circles. Yet, Africa's youth are the key to the continent's renaissance and will remain players in and advocates of social transformation and development in many spheres. The enormous benefits that youth can contribute can only be realised when investment is made in their education, employment, health care, empowerment and effective civic participation. In recent years, recognition of the importance of investing in young people in Africa has grown at the international level. However, there is a lack of information about whether and how donor policies and strategies have been matched by an increase in funding and specific programming to meet youth needs. It is against this background that this study is conducted to attempt to fill this information gap by analysing, in greater depth, the trends in donor strategies, programmes and funding for youth development in Africa.