Children & Youth

  • 17 Feb 2017

    Reforming Côte d’Ivoire’s education system

    Country: 
    Côte d'Ivoire
    Topics: 
    Education
    Children & Youth
    Body: 
    While Côte d’Ivoire has recorded strong growth over the past five years, the country lags behind in education. The decade of crisis strongly affected the education system and the level of schooling in the country, exacerbating inequalities faced by girls, children from rural areas and children from poor families. A recent World Bank report makes a number of recommendations to reduce administrative expenses, purchase equipment and introduce a more effective financial aid system for families. Read on
  • 06 Feb 2017

    Germany proposes Marshall Plan with Africa

    Topics: 
    Development co-operation
    Employment
    Children & Youth
    Body: 
    The German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development published a draft report called, “Cornerstones of a Marshall Plan with Africa,” advocating for a new partnership between Africa and Europe. Ten starting points have been put forward for discussion, mainly focusing on youth, employment, private sector engagement, African ownership and solutions. Read on
  • 18 Jan 2017

    Africa and France need to update their co-operation model

    Country: 
    Mali
    Topics: 
    Development co-operation
    Children & Youth
    Opinion: 
    Opinion
    Members: 
    France
    Body: 
    Séga Diarrah, president of the “Bi-Ton” Collective, which brings together some 60 associations to promote democracy and employment in Mali, recognises that the 27th Africa-France Summit, which was held in Bamako on 13-14 January 2017, was a success for Mali. Relations between France and Africa are nevertheless questionable. According to Diarrah, France continues to benefit from Africa, especially through its large companies that are active on the continent, without addressing Africans’ real concerns about co-operation. Read on
  • 18 Jan 2017

    The first Africa Resilience Forum

    Topics: 
    Agriculture & Fisheries
    Energy
    Children & Youth
    Regional integration
    Resilience
    Body: 
    On 10 and 11 January 2017 in Abidjan, the African Development Bank (AfDB) hosted the first edition of the Africa Resilience Forum. It focused on “Operationalising the High 5 for a Resilient Africa,” with reference to the five priorities defined by AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina. Read on
  • 30 Nov 2016

    Percentage of young women (20-24 years) married before age 18

    Country: 
    Chad
    Mali
    Niger
    Nigeria
    Topics: 
    Children & Youth
    Culture & Society
    Gender
    SWAC: 
    SWAC
    Body: 
    West African girls are married off too young: Seven West African countries rank among the top 20 countries in the world with the highest rate of child marriage: Niger (1), Chad (3), Mali (5), Guinea (6), Burkina Faso (8), Sierra Leone (13) and Nigeria (14). In Niger, three out of four girls marry before their 18th birthday, contributing to the highest fertility rate in the world of more than seven children per woman. Read on
  • 30 Nov 2016

    Prevalence of stunting (% of children, 0-5 years)

    Topics: 
    Children & Youth
    Food security & Nutrition
    Health
    SWAC: 
    SWAC
    Body: 
    Chronic malnutrition persists: Malnutrition is, first and foremost, a chronic problem. Rates of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) in the Sahel have exceeded the alert threshold of 10% for at least the past 15 years. In many areas, they regularly exceed the emergency threshold of 15%. Nearly 40% of children under five years of age are stunted. Read on
  • 30 Nov 2016

    Fertility rate and school enrolment

    Country: 
    Chad
    Mali
    Niger
    Topics: 
    Children & Youth
    Demographic trends
    Education
    Gender
    SWAC: 
    SWAC
    Body: 
    The education of girls contributes to reducing fertility: The number of children per woman of childbearing age (five West African countries are among the top 10 in the world) is significantly correlated to the prevalence of early marriage, the fertility rate of girls and their level of education. Read on
  • 31 Oct 2016

    Most Liberian youth fail university entrance exam

    Country: 
    Liberia
    Topics: 
    Culture & Society
    Education
    Children & Youth
    Body: 
    In Liberia, 42 000 candidates took the exam that is common for all of the region’s English-speaking countries for entrance into West African universities, but only one person managed to score at the level required to move on to university. This massive underperformance has revealed the flaws in the country’s education system, which is experiencing a shortage of teachers and suffers from a lack of basic educational facilities. Read on
  • 18 Oct 2016

    UEMOA creates a human rights network

    Topics: 
    Culture & Society
    Democracy & Peace
    Children & Youth
    Members: 
    UEMOA
    Body: 
    On 6 October in Abidjan, the representatives of national human rights institutions of UEMOA member countries decided organise themselves into a network. The move will create a framework for discussion and exchange on all issues linked to the promotion and protection of human rights within the UEMOA region. The network will look at themes such as: the respect for human rights, access to justice, education and issues related to migration and refugees. Read on
  • 18 Oct 2016

    Youth employment, a priority in the region

    Country: 
    Côte d'Ivoire
    Topics: 
    Employment
    Children & Youth
    Regional integration
    Body: 
    The African Development Bank organised a ministerial conference on jobs for young people in Africa, a meeting that was held in Abidjan on 18 October. The event brought together some of the continent’s Ministers of Finance and Youth Employment, young people from Côte d’Ivoire, as well as government officials, leaders of civil society organisations and other private sector representatives from ECOWAS countries. Read on

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