INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT 2025

The International Youth Day Solidarity Statement 2025, issued by the Youth For Tax Justice Network (YTJN) and the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), advocates for global tax and debt justice to support Africa's youth population. The statement highlights the contradiction between high youth entrepreneurship and a lack of decent employment, arguing that unsustainable sovereign debt and tax abuse divert essential funding from education, healthcare, and climate resilience.

• Africa has a significant youth population of over 400 million and the world's highest entrepreneurship rate, with 22 per cent of working-age Africans engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
• Sub-Saharan Africa faces a critical shortage of productive employment; in 2023, the rate of youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET) was 21.9 per cent, exceeding the global rate of 20.4 per cent. The region is one of only three globally assessed as off track for Sustainable Development Goal target 8.6 regarding the reduction of young NEETs.
• Unsustainable sovereign debt is described as a "generational betrayal" that strips public budgets of funds for education, healthcare, and climate adaptation, forcing governments to prioritize payments to creditors over investments in youth potential and the Agenda 2063 goals.
• The statement demands the establishment of two major international frameworks: a UN Tax Convention to curb tax abuse and illicit financial flows while rebalancing taxing rights toward developing countries, and a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt to provide a human-rights-based system for resolving debt crises.

APA

Nshimiyimana, F., & Kafuko, J. (2025). INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT 2025. African Forum and Network on Debt and Development. https://www.afrodad.org/campaign/statements/international-youth-day-solidarity-statement-2025

Chicago

Nshimiyimana, Fidélité, and John Kafuko. INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT 2025. African Forum and Network on Debt and Development, 2025. https://www.afrodad.org/campaign/statements/international-youth-day-solidarity-statement-2025.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Nshimiyimana |first1=Fidélité |last2=Kafuko |first2=John |title=INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT 2025 |publisher=African Forum and Network on Debt and Development |date=12 August 2025 |url=https://www.afrodad.org/campaign/statements/international-youth-day-solidarity-statement-2025 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{nshimiyimana2025international, author = {Nshimiyimana, Fidélité and Kafuko, John}, title = {{INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT 2025}}, publisher = {African Forum and Network on Debt and Development}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://www.afrodad.org/campaign/statements/international-youth-day-solidarity-statement-2025}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }