Africa Day Message - Youths urged to seize opportunities to forge for themselves a positive future |25 May 2017

“The future of a sustainable and prosperous Seychelles relies on healthy, socially stable and educated young Seychellois. They are the ones who will determine the future of this country.”

This comes in a message from the Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Idith Alexander on the occasion of Africa Day being celebrated today.

The full text of Minister Alexander’s message reads:

“May 25 marks the Africa Day for all African Nations.  On this occasion, Seychelles joins the rest of the world to celebrate this very special day for the African continent.

“This year’s theme ‘Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investment in Youth’, comes at an opportune time when Seychelles has embarked on a process to double its effort to creating more opportunities and programmes to empower its youth. This will ensure that they live their dreams, achieve their goals and become productive future citizens of tomorrow.

“To ensure the success of this theme, all ministries join forces with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and other relevant stakeholders to work on effective solutions. Special focus could be on investment in the youth engagement, inclusive of socio-cultural and economic development and growth.

“Finger pointing would not achieve much, but on the other hand, pulling our resources together as a Nation, through concerted effort, we could find solutions at a time when our youth are vulnerable and being exposed to the ills of society.

“I take this opportunity to urge the youth of Seychelles, to make the most of opportunities being offered to them, to envision and forge for themselves a positive and prosperous future, in which they are empowered and to be what they aspire to be. 

“The future of a sustainable and prosperous Seychelles relies on healthy, socially stable and educated young Seychellois. They are the ones who will determine the future of this country.

“We take this occasion, to urge the African Union to commit to Agenda 2063, to make the aspiration of the African People a reality, particularly Aspiration 6 of the Agenda 2063, which places emphasis on: “an Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of the African people, especially its women, children and the Youth”.

“FetAfrik is not only a day of celebration, but also a day of reflection upon our African heritage, our history and how it has contributed to transform us into the prosperous and thriving Seychellois nation that we are today.

“I wish you all a ‘Bonne FetAfrik’”.