YOUTHS HAVE BETTER PROSPECTS IF THEY STAY IN SCHOOL - OSOTIMEHIN

Youth are key to development but can only fully contribute to their communities if they realise their right to make choices related to reproductive life, says UNFPA executive director Dr Babatunde Osotimehin.

And community development, mother and child health minister Dr Joseph Katema will be among more than 20 finance, planning, youth and gender leaders who will convene to discuss investments in family planning to meet the needs of Africa's youth.
In a statement ahead of the high-level ministerial meeting which starts tomorrow in Addis Ababa in conjunction with the third International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2013), Dr Osotimehin said young people could have better prospects and more opportunities if they avoid adolescent pregnancies and stay longer in school.
"Governments, together with national institutions, civil society, communities, and other development partners, are responsible for creating opportunities for their people, especially the young. That youthfulness is the real wealth of a nation," said Dr Osotimehin.
Dr Katema is listed to join Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Malawian President Joyce Banda, Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra and African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma during the opening ceremony of the International Conference on family planning (ICFP 2013) to be held from November 12-15.
According to the ICFP 2013 secretariat in Addis Ababa, the high-level ministerial investment meeting on family planning is aimed at maximizing the youth's future potential for national development.
"Discussions will focus on the key role of family planning in helping nations reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, the accelerated economic growth that can result from a rapid decline in a country's fertility rate, coupled with smart investments in health, education, and job creation. Multiple Asian countries have achieved the demographic dividend. Now, with the right investments, it could be within the reach of African nations," it stated.
ICFP added that earlier this year in Abidjan, African ministers of finance and economic development issued a joint call to launch a continental initiative on the demographic dividend