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Investing in the future: Addressingchallenges faced by Africa's youngpopulation.40th Session of the Commission onPopulation and Development
Nyovani Madise
African Population and Health Research Center
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Outline of Presentation
•Why invest in Africa’s young people?
•Health -
RH,
HIV and AIDS
•Education
•Education – population - health
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Why Invest in Young People?
•Human Capital=
Population x Health X Education
•Young people have the greatestpotential for change.
•Large proportion of population
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Africa’s Youthful Population fuelledby High Fertility
Source: World Population Datasheet 2005.
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Africa’s growing young population
Source: Compiled from UN World PopulationProspects, 2006 Revision.
0-4 years
5-14 years
15-24 years
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The Health of Young PeopleMatters
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Young People’s Health
•Historically African infants and babieshave high disease and mortalityburden
•Youth have low disease burden BUTincreasing due to
–Reproductive ill-health
–Teen pregnancies
–STI infections
–HIV and AIDS
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Sexual behaviour among 15-19 yr-olds
Source: National Surveys of Adolescents 2004
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But they are ill-protected againstconsequences
Source: National Surveys of Adolescents 2004
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Many births to mothers under age 20 werewanted later or not at all: West Africa (DHS data)
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(cont’d) East and Southern Africa (DHSdata)
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High HIV prevalence among youngAfricans
Males
Females
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Proportion of deaths to females aged15-29 years by cause
Compiled from WHO Burden of Disease Statistics
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Proportion of deaths to males aged15-29 years by cause
Compiled from WHO Burden of Disease Statistics
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A Synergistic Response for FamilyPlanning and HIV services
• Higher HIV infectionrates among youngpeople especiallyfemales (3:1 ratio)
• More than 25% ofgirls have startedchildbearing by age19 in many Africancountries)
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Education Matters
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Investing in young people: education
Education: has intrinsic value initself but also key determinant of
•Health,
•Population change - fertility,mortality, migration
•Economic development
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Young people need opportunities forschooling
•DHS data (2000-2005) on young peopleaged 6-10 years attending school:
–59% where there is no free primaryeducation
–74% where there is free primary education
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Making education affordable
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Differential in secondary educationby wealth status
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Gender differences persist especiallyfor secondary education
Source: DHS surveys, 2000-2005
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Education matters
•Make education affordable
•Reduce the difference in school attendancebetween females and males
•Other forms of education
–Skills development
–Sex education
•Information for behavioural change
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Education-Population
•Lower fertility
E,g, Average fertility of African woman
Without education = XXX
Primary =XXX
Secondary =XXX
•Longer birth spacing (34 months forsecondary educated women compared with28 for those without education).
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Education-Health
•Lower child mortality
–7% reduction for infants of primary educated women
–30% for secondary educated
•Better nutritional status
•Lower prevalence of infectious childhood illnesses
•Higher use of health facilities (delivery, immunization,curative services)
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The Education-Health Link
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Summary
Africa’s young people
+ Investments in health +
+ Education
= Human Development
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Thank you for your attention
