12/08/2026
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2026
THE FUTURE MUST NOT BE DONE TO YOUNG PEOPLE โ IT MUST BE BUILT WITH THEM
By Dr. Nigussu Legesse
Executive Director, Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA)
12 August 2026 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
International Youth Day is more than a moment to celebrate young people. It is an opportunity to reflect honestly on the place we give them in our societies, the opportunities we create for them, and the extent to which we trust them to help shape the future.
The theme of International Youth Day 2026, โDifferent Contexts, Common Aspirations,โ reminds us that young people live in very different social, economic and cultural circumstances, yet share fundamental aspirations: to learn, to work, to live with dignity and security, to enjoy good health and well-being, to participate in decisions that affect their lives, and to build a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable future.
For Ethiopia and for Africa, these aspirations carry particular significance.
Across our continent, young people are already contributing to their communities, economies and public life. They are learning, creating businesses, developing technologies, generating new ideas, volunteering, building social enterprises, advocating for change and taking responsibility in ways that deserve recognition and greater support.
Young people should not be regarded as a waiting generation for leadership. They are already citizens, innovators, entrepreneurs, community builders, peacebuilders and leaders.
The question before us, therefore, is not whether young people have potential. The question is whether our institutions, economies and societies are creating sufficient space for that potential to become opportunity, dignity and meaningful impact.
Youth empowerment is not charity. It is an investment in the economic, social, civic and democratic strength of our societies.
For Ethiopia, this requires more than encouraging young people to participate. We must create genuine pathways from quality education and relevant skills to decent work, entrepreneurship, innovation and responsible leadership. We must expand opportunities for young women and men, including those facing barriers because of poverty, geography, disability or other circumstances. And we must listen to young people not merely after decisions have been made, but while those decisions are being shaped.
This is equally important across Africa. Our youthful population can become one of our continent's greatest strengths, but demographic potential does not automatically become a demographic dividend. It requires sustained investment in education, health and well-being, skills, productive employment, entrepreneurship, digital opportunity, civic participation, peace and social cohesion.
We must move from youth participation to youth influence; from consultation to genuine partnership; and from speaking about young people to listening to them and building with them.
Government, business, civil society, universities, faith-based organizations, development partners and communities all have a responsibility to help create an enabling environment in which knowledge can lead to innovation, innovation can lead to enterprise, and enterprise can generate productive opportunities for others.
Civil society has a particularly important role to play. We must create and protect spaces where young people can organize, innovate, serve their communities, advocate for constructive change and participate meaningfully in public life. We must also invest in young people's capacity to build peace, bridge differences, strengthen social cohesion and contribute to resilient communities.
At the same time, we must recognize that young people are not simply recipients of development. They are agents and co-creators of development.
This calls us to ask a deeper question: Are we preparing young people simply to inherit the institutions we have built, or are we giving them the opportunity, confidence and responsibility to improve and transform those institutions?
We should not ask young people merely to adapt to the future we have designed for them. We should invite them to help design the future itself.
The measure of our commitment to youth will not be the number of speeches we make about them. It will be seen in the opportunities we create, the resources we invest, the responsibilities we entrust to them, the institutions we make more accessible, and the seriousness with which we listen to their ideas.
It will also be measured by whether a young person in a rural community can see a future of possibility; whether a young woman can pursue leadership without barriers; whether a young entrepreneur can turn an idea into a viable enterprise; whether a young graduate can find decent work; and whether young people have meaningful opportunities to contribute to peace, social cohesion and sustainable development.
On this International Youth Day, let us therefore move beyond celebrating the potential of young people and commit ourselves to investing in their agency.
Let us give young people meaningful opportunities to participate, innovate and lead.
Let us create institutions that are open to their ideas, economies that can harness their talents, and societies that respect their dignity and aspirations.
And, above all, let us have the confidence to build the future with young people, rather than simply speaking about the future on their behalf.
Ethiopia and Africa will be stronger when young people are not treated merely as beneficiaries of development, but recognized as partners, contributors and architects of it.
Let us trust the next generation with more than our hopes.
Let us give them opportunity.
Let us give them responsibility.
Let us give them a voice.
And let us give them a meaningful place in shaping the future we will share together.
On International Youth Day 2026, may we renew our commitment to a future in which every young person, whatever their circumstances, can learn, contribute, lead and thrive.
The future must not be done to young people.
It must be built with them.
Dr. Nigussu Legesse
Executive Director
Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA)
