1. Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima
Integrating the needs of young people into the Second National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS 2)
Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima
Representative of the Government of Nigeria
Commonwealth Regional Youth Caucus Africa
National Council on Youth Development
March 12-16, Katsina City

2. NEEDS 1 Value re-orientation Wealth Creation Employment Generation
Poverty eradication

3. NEEDS 2
NEEDS 2 will seek to reduce poverty levels by 35 percent by 2011, with a particular emphasis on employment.

4. Young people have needs
Reproductive health needs
Education needs
Employment/ entrepreneurship needs
Participation needs

5. What do young people want?
Education of good quality;
Adequate youth friendly reproductive health services;
More space to participate in the social, economic and political life of society;
More jobs, opportunities and policy environment that supports small scale youth businesses.

6. Meeting educational needs
Provide free, accessible education of good quality;
Train, retrain and recruit teachers;
Review curriculum;
Equip and build schools not six classroom blocks;
Pay teachers salaries
Invest in research, science and technology
Invest in girls education

7. Meeting Participation needs
Reserve quotas for youth participation in political and policy processes;
Engage youth as professionals and not just as recipients of agendas;
Include youth in delegations to national and international meetings on issues affecting them.

8. Meeting Reproductive Health needs
Invest in youth friendly reproductive health services;
Increasingly engage youth as peer educators to stop AIDS and pregnancy;
Provide free and friendly counselling and testing services as well as ARV for positive youth;
Implement the HIV/AIDS/ Family Life Education at all levels.

9. Meeting employment needs
Unemployment is linked to poverty, HIV/AIDS and other social vices;
Create micro-finance schemes to support young entrepreneurs in establishing private businesses;
Create mentorship and internship schemes to support youth businesses;
Track all government investments on youth entrepreneurship and create a database on youth employment;
Provide ICT training for youth and invest in rural telephony project;
Provide an enabling policy environment for youth businesses to thrive

10. Why invest in young people?
Demographic bonus
Innovation and leadership
Bear the brunt of poverty on their families and communities

11. NEEDS 2 and the MDGs
NEEDS 2 will seek to reduce poverty levels by 35 percent by 2011, the MDGs seek to halve poverty (50 percent) by 2015;
Achieving NEEDS 2 is critical to Nigeria’s achievement of the MDGs. This could be a groundbreaking achievement to become to\he first country in SSA to be so close to achieving the MDGs;
NEEDS 2 has to focus on key MDG indicators related to youth.

12. Quick wins from MDGs youth report
Expand access to SRH information including family planning services;
Provide free school meals in primary schools to encourage school retainership;
Governments should adopt and promote the concept of peer-led initiatives and encourage young people in schooling to undertake community based initiatives that encourage school participation.

13. NEEDS 2 and the MDGs
In other to position Nigeria towards achieving the MDGs, investment priorities in NEEDS 2 should include;
Hunger and poverty reduction programs;
Universal basic education
Girl child education and empowerment of young women
Health care system that meets the SRH needs of youth
Contraception, family planning and sexuality education
Prevention of HIV and other diseases
Massive investment in affordable housing
In youth employment and ICT4D.

14. Recommendations
Create inter-ministerial collaboration and partnerships on youth development in Nigeria;
Coordination of youth interventions across ministries and agencies;
Make budgetary provisions to youth issues across government ministries;
Invest in multi-sectoral, multistakeholder youth-adult partnerships;
Fund the National Youth Development Fund;
Invest in the National Youth Service Corps.

15. Sanu
Etse
Imela
Omiete
I thank you all for your attention
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Long live the Commonwealth