Energy of African youth propelling.

This is what the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, says in his message Saturday on the occasion of the International Day of Africa. Earlier this year, the UN chief visited Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where he spent time with schoolgirls from 34 African countries learning to code.

“They did not just develop their skills; they challenged gender stereotypes and embraced inclusive digital technology that will be essential to bring the continent to a low-carbon and resilient climate change future, “he said.

“The overflowing energy and optimism of young Africans is propelling the continent into a new era of sustainable development,” he added through the implementation of the African Union’s “visionary” 2063 program for the continent. , which aligns closely with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, endorsed by all nations of the world in 2015.

Africa Day marks the 56th anniversary of the founding of the AU: “Since I took office in 2017,” said Guterres, “I have privileged the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the European Union. African. I am proud to say that our cooperation has made a leap forward, from the institutionalization of the annual UN-African Union Conferences to the new AU-UN Joint Framework on Peace and Security and Sustainable Development, and the Joint Declaration. on cooperation. for peace support operations led by the African Union.

“We are providing significant support to the AU’s prevention and mediation initiatives, including” Silencing Firearms by 2020 “and the African Women Leaders’ Network,” said the Chief of Staff. UN.

Putting a mutual emphasis on poverty eradication, he said that the United Nations and the AU “are working closely to integrate the 2030 Agenda and the 2063 Agenda into national development plans and cooperate to free new opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area “.

He concluded by saying that the renewed emphasis on the UN-AU strategic partnership “is already yielding results. Let us build on these strong foundations to make our cooperation more effective, efficient and mutually reinforcing, based on the principles of African ownership, mutual respect, complementarity and interdependence.

Source: United Nations.