AFRICAN YOUTH MATTERS: A REVIEW OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEWS

Author: Mashombotwa Mukwena 

ABSTRACT

Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) are a source of rich information on countries’ efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the end of 2023, more than 200 VNRs have been published each reporting countries efforts and progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Text mining offers an opportunity to review large volumes of text. This study utilized Voyant Tools to review forty-four VNRs from the African continent specifically focusing on youth matters. Assessing and accounting for vulnerable groups such as youth in the achievement of SDGs is one of the guidelines in VNR reporting. This study found low relative frequencies of youth related reporting in the VNRs. Employment was found to be the common discussion when reporting on youth matters in all four regions (Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern) of Africa. Results showed that texting mining tools can be utilized to monitor SDG progress as 2030 draws near.

REFERENCES  

  • African Union (AU), 2018. AU Roadmap on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend Through Investments in Youth. Available at: https://wcaro.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/AU%202017%20DD%20ROADMAP%20Final%20-%20EN.pdf [Accessed: 8 June 2024].
  • Chater, N., 2022. What is the point of behavioral public policy? A contractarian approach. Behavioural Public Policy, pp. 1-15.
  • Chisika, S.N. and Yeom, C., 2024. Voluntary National Reviews on Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals: Key Lessons from East African Member States. SAGE Open, 14(2), p. 21582440241257319.
  • Davis, M., 2016. Data and the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an Agenda, 38, pp. 25-38.
  • FAO, 2021. Guidelines on Data Disaggregation for SDG Indicators Using Survey Data. Rome. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb3253en.
  • Guglielmi, S. and Jones, N., 2019. The Invisibility of Adolescents within the SDGs: Assessing Gaps in Gender and Age Disaggregation to Leave No Adolescent Behind. London, United Kingdom: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence.
  • Mabry, R., Doctor, H., Khair, M., Abdelgalil, M. and Rashidian, A., 2024. Measuring progress on health and well-being in the Eastern Mediterranean Region via voluntary national reviews, 2016-2021: what does the data reveal? medRxiv, pp. 2024-01.
  • Mhangara, P., Lamba, A., Mapurisa, W. and Mudau, N., 2019. Towards the development of Agenda 2063 geo-portal to support sustainable development in Africa. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 8(9), p. 399.
  • Perlotto, S., 2019. Africa’s Future: Youth and the Data Defining Their Lives. Population Reference Bureau.
  • Qiu, Y., Zhao, X., Fan, D., Li, S. and Zhao, Y., 2022. Disaggregating population data for assessing progress of SDGs: methods and applications. International Journal of Digital Earth, 15(1), pp. 2-29.
  • Rivera, S.J., Minsker, B.S., Work, D.B. and Roth, D., 2014. A text mining framework for advancing sustainability indicators. Environmental Modelling & Software, 62, pp. 128-138.
  • Sebestyén, V., Domokos, E. and Abonyi, J., 2020. Focal points for sustainable development strategies—Text mining-based comparative analysis of voluntary national reviews. Journal of Environmental Management, 263, p. 110414.
  • Szetey, K., Moallemi, E.A., Ashton, E., Butcher, M., Sprunt, B. and Bryan, B.A., 2021. Co-creating local socioeconomic pathways for achieving the sustainable development goals. Sustainability Science, 16, pp. 1251-1268.
  • United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2018. World Youth Report: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations Publications.
  • United Nations, 2024. Handbook for the Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews. New York: United Nations. Available at: https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/vnrs/hand-book/VNR%20Handbook%202024%20EN_0.pdf [Accessed: 20 September 2024].