John Mulimba, Uganda’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of regional affairs, will preside over the youth dialogue on South Africa-Uganda Relations scheduled for tomorrow, Friday August 11.
The dialogue organised by the African Youth Caucus Inc., a nonprofit organisation focused on empowering youth in the field of diplomacy on the continent of Africa, will be held virtually via Zoom platform.
It will be held under the theme “Leveraging the gains from the SA-Uganda partnership to foster youth cooperation.”
The guest speakers will include H.E Paul Omiat Amoru Head of Mission High Commission of Uganda in South Africa, Mr Ngwako Solomon Deputy Head of Mission High Commission of South Africa in Uganda and Mr Kyateka Francis Mondo Assistant Commissioner gor Youth and Children Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
According to organisers, there are two panel discussions lined up. The first panel will include Mr Bonga Makhanya Founder and Executive Chairman South African Youth Economic Council, Mr Macxzzon Muhwezi Chairperson Interparty Youth Platform and member NRM Youth League, Phetole Seodi from the National Development Youth Agency South Africa and Karabo Mokganyana legal and development practitioner.
The second panel will have Mr Mohale Ramoshaba Manager Youth Directorate office of the Executive MayorCity of Ekurhuleni Gauteng Johannesburg, Kidega Moses National Secretary for Labour affairs Uganda National Youth Council and Sharon Atuhaire from the East Africa Community Youth Ambassadors Platform.
South Africa and Uganda continue to cooperate closely and coordinate their positions on issues in a number of regional and multilateral fora such as the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) and share similar perspectives particularly on the political and economic integration processes on the African continent.
According to Statistics South Africa (2021), the South African population was estimated at 60.1 million in 2021, of which females accounted for 51.1% of the total population (30,8 million).
Children (0-14 years) constituted almost a third of the South African population (28,3%), whilst adults (35-39 years) were estimated at 16.9 million and the elderly at 5.5 million.
The youth population (15-35 years) was estimated at 20.6 million in 2021, representing the largest proportion of the total population (34.3%).
Uganda has the second youngest population in the world and this is only expected to increase over the coming decades as the number of children, adolescents and youth in the country is forecasted to rise from 27.5 million in 2015 to 75.9 million in 2080.
This, has uniquely positioned both countries to harness the economic and social benefits of a young and growing dynamic population.
To respond to this, both countries have developed several policies in response to its growing youth population which include the Uganda National Youth Policy, South African National Youth Policy, Uganda National Development Plan III (2020-2025) and Vision 2040 (Uganda), among others.
The dialogue will focus on identifying strategic areas for benchmarking in the youth development space from both countries, including the fight against poverty.
Others are engagement of the youth in the African Continental Free Trade Area, Youth Integration process in SADC and EAC, democracy and rule of law, and the struggle against Apartheid and lessons from South Africa.