Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 24

Development

The youth holds the future of development
By Fernando Frutuoso de Melo

A young woman with an EU flag face paint. A Eurobarometer report reveals that young people in the bloc believe that helping developing countries is important.
Photo by: European Union 2014 - European Parliament / CC BY-NC-ND

W

hat Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke
wrote in the 18th century still holds true for young
men and women and children across the world today.
“Tell me what are the prevailing sentiments that occupy
the minds of your young men, and I will tell you what is to
be the character of the next generation.”
Their perception of the world around them and their
place in it will determine the extent to which they get
involved in activities aimed at change and progress, and
how successful their efforts can be.
In developing countries, the preoccupations of young
people concern many of their basic needs and those of
their parents, their families and immediate communities
— food security, access to health care, water and energy
supplies, freedom from warfare and instability, the right
to education and schooling, and future employment
prospects.
Some of these concerns are shared, to varying degrees,
by young people in developed countries, although their
attention may be less focused on acute day-to-day personal
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2015

needs. I was encouraged by the findings of the European
Commission’s recent special Eurobarometer report on
citizens’ views on development, cooperation and aid.
These showed that young people in the European Union
between the ages of 15 and 24 are more likely than their
elders to think it is important to help people in developing
countries, more likely to think the EU should increase
development aid beyond promised levels, and more
optimistic about the impact that individual actions can
have in helping developing countries.
Listening to the views, hopes — and fears — of young
people is essential in defining the development agenda for
the years and decades to come. 2015 is the European Year
for Development, with three key objectives — informing
EU citizens about development cooperation and its
results; fostering direct involvement, critical thinking
and active interest; and raising awareness of the benefits
of development cooperation. Clearly, young people
in the EU are a prime focus of the activities that are
being undertaken by the European Commission and the
member states to ensure that these aims are fulfilled. Their