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Richard Nyamanhindi Our Children, Our Future
We are halfway in 2015. This year the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will expire and the race is on to finalise a new global framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in time for September’s UN General Assembly.

Last week, Government, development partners and civil society met in Harare for a multi-stakeholder national dialogue of the SDGs which will decide which way the world and the country turns for decades to come and calling on national leaders to take the right path.

In this context, the developmental context underscoring the need for youth inclusion in the emerging framework is very critical. With young people accounting for more than 60 percent of the total population in Zimbabwe – the SDG consultations need to give youth a meaningful say, so that the new development goals encourage policies, investments and data collection to better serve the needs and interests of today’s and tomorrow’s generation of young people.

Since the beginning of the year, over 7 million citizens worldwide voted via My World 2015 for their priorities – and nearly 60 percent of participants were young people aged 16-30.

The more than 16 000 youth who voted from Zimbabwe put good education, better healthcare and job opportunities at the top of their list. What then is the way forward?

In July last year, the UN member state-driven Open Working Group submitted to the Secretary-General its final proposed SDGs comprising 17 goals with 169 targets. A few months ago, the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon released his own synthesis report, “The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet” claiming: “Young people will be the torch-bearers of the next sustainable development agenda through 2030.”

It is time, however, to get beyond lofty rhetoric and well-intended consultation. Studies and statistics in Zimbabwe and around the world show that youth are falling short.

While (with good reason) youth unemployment and inadequate education make headlines, limited opportunities or weak status in other respects largely go unnoticed.

Though mentioned in its introduction, the OWG proposal does not have a stand-alone youth goal, and “youth” or “young people” are explicitly included in just three of the 17 goals, in six of the 169 targets: two under the proposed goal on education (Goal 4), three under the proposed goal on employment (Goal 8), and one under the goal for climate change governance (Goal 13). In addition, adolescent girls are explicitly targeted in Goal 2 regarding nutrition.

This will not suffice when one looks at the number of young people in Zimbabwe. We know from theory and practice that inclusive growth and development is about more than skills and jobs; and that educational and economic success are interdependent with many variables including health, safety and security, rights and participation, financial inclusion, and infrastructure.

The good news for Zimbabwe is that there is still time and room to include young people in the formulation and adoption of the SDGs.

As Zimbabwe begins the consultation process there are some illustrative ideas of specific points that could be considered to better include youth in the existing framework:

l Agriculture holds great potential for jobs and economic opportunity, but access to land and finance are commonly cited constraints by young farmers and would be “agripreneurs”.

l Young people are pivotal to an “AIDS free generation” and their needs in sexual and reproductive health warrant clear attention. There is therefore a need to consider adding language around youth-friendly services (target 3.7).

l If young people will be the “torch bearers”, then they should have a concrete role in its implementation. Yet youth currently receive no mention in proposed Goal 17.

Zimbabwe’s collective fate will be shaped by the forthcoming agenda. Further, it poses a critical opportunity to send an unequivocal message that youth matter and not just tell – but, show – the country’s 6,8 million youth they are priority. By taking the right path for and with youth, we can all arrive at a better destination.