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nurtured and fulfilled, would not only contribute to their empowerment,but also lead to achieving sustainable and inclusive economicand social development that would enable the continent to achievethe MDGs by 2015.On the contrary, young Africans today continue to face striking paradoxes.They experience extreme disparities in terms of economic,technological, social, political and cultural resources, which varyenormously across regions, countries, localities and populationgroups. Allow me to reiterate some facts about the current situationof young people in our continent.The African youth population (15-24 years) will generally remainhigh until 2050 with sub-regional variations: 18.3 per cent in EasternAfrica, 18.5 per cent in Central Africa, 17.8 per cent for WesternAfrica, 16.4 per cent for Southern Africa and 13.9 per cent for NorthAfrica .for the same period.Specifically in Ghana, the youth population is estimated to be at 16.9per cent in 2050.A number of countries including Uganda and Nigeria where the populationof young people (below 30 years) constitutes 70 per cent and60 per cent of the total population respectively, and where fertilityrates remain high, are already feeling the population pressures.Young people especially young females, continue to experience highunemployment rates which in Africa is around 20 per cent, althoughunderemployment among youth is even a greater challenge.Despite applauses of improved literacy rates in the last two decades,the reading and math’s proficiencies among young people have beenfound to be very low.An estimated 3.2 million young people are living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and young women continue to die from preventablecauses like maternal mortality.More so, young people are victims of conflict and in addition to maternalmortality, opportunities for young females’ development arehampered by limited schooling, early marriages, labour traffickingand other socio-cultural factors.304 Part Five