Image by: Clara @clarayfok via Twitter
Twenty young human rights champions from across Africa will come together at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to for the launch of the #AfricaNot4Sale campaign.
This will be “part of a two-day roundtable dialogue on corporate accountability in the social and economic lives of Africa’s youth”‚ Amnesty International and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa said in a statement.
“African political leaders and big business must stop selling the future of the continent’s youth and start promoting alternative growth models rooted in youth empowerment‚ human development and human rights.”
“The youth of Africa have long been side-lined in discussions and initiatives relating to the development of their own continent‚” said #AfricaNot4Sale ambassador Simphiwe Dana.
The award-winning singer and social campaigner added: “They have watched as the spoils of Africa have been divided and shared amongst multinational companies with the approval of their governments - and they have felt too powerless and‚ in many cases‚ too disinterested to intervene. Dispossessed and disempowered youths are saying #AfricaNot4Sale.”
The youth-led - participants are between the ages of 20 and 30 years old - gathering aims to deconstruct the “Africa Rising” narrative.
“Despite the euphoria surrounding Africa’s growth projections over the past several years‚ inequalities – fuelled by high unemployment and deeply entrenched poverty - continue to undermine the social and economic wellbeing of youth across the region‚” explained Edward Ndopu‚ Amnesty International’s Regional Activism and Youth Coordinator for Africa.
“This is an unacceptable state of affairs with far-reaching implications for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
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