By Lerisha Naidu, Managing Partner, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg
“Progress is impossible without change”. The words articulated by the renowned playwright, George Bernard-Shaw, are fairly intuitive. And through a high-level review of history, it is trite that the youth have been indispensable agents of and for change.
Thirty-seven years ago in Soweto, members of the South African youth courageously protested against oppressive laws that propagated an entrenched system of unequal and inaccessible education.
And indeed, youth activism has been a crucial feature of civil rights movements throughout the world – from anti-war protests, to vocalising strong criticism of human rights violations; from championing issues relating to climate change, to advocating passionately for gender equality.
The list is extensive.
Nelson Mandela, in demonstrating an unconditional support for South Africa’s youth, expressed the view that the “the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow”.
One almost wholeheartedly embraces this sentiment.
But given the track record in our global history books, is there merit in advocating more strongly for a world in which the youth of today can also be today’s leaders?
Put differently, rather than positioning the youth as the hope for tomorrow, is there more scope for inclusion in the business of the day?
A recent United Nations World Youth Report recorded an estimate of 1.2 billion youth in the world, accounting for 16% of the global population.
According to the World Economic Forum, more than 60% of Africa's population is under the age of 25.
By 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youth.
The African continent cannot afford to relegate these demographic trends to an impending eventuality.
The reality is that there exists potential to deploy Africa’s youth, in the spirit of Bernard-Shaw’s sentiments, as purveyors of progress and agents of change, not just in the future, but today.
To achieve this, it is important to create space, encourage authenticity, empower leadership, invest in and nurture talent, celebrate diversity and foster inclusion, harness innovation and harvest its fruits, accelerate skills-transfer, take leaps of faith, confront unconscious age-bias and ensure adequate access to resources, infrastructure and opportunities.
On Youth Day in South Africa, we celebrate those youth activists and advocates for justice, those young leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation, those that live by example and that demonstrate true leadership in deed rather than through title.
We salute the hard workers that have their sights on their dreams and the passionate and courageous voices that dare to challenge prevailing norms. We acknowledge the dynamism and the bright eyes, which often signal a willingness to participate in the co-creation of a brighter future.
Today, we pause to embrace the youth of this continent, as purveyors of progress and agents of change.
Lerisha Naidu is the managing partner at Baker McKenzie Johannesburg.
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