President Macky Sall's candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General places youth at the centre of the question of peace. By 2050, one young person in three worldwide will live in Africa. What these generations find ahead of them, a job or a dead end, a school or a closed door, will decide part of the century's stability.
A demography that can carry or sweep away. A young population that is trained and employed becomes an engine of growth for the continent and for its partners. Left without prospects, the same youth feeds distress migration and the recruitment of armed groups. The number is identical in either case; everything depends on what states do with it.
Train, then employ. Training is worth something only if a job waits at the end of it. Investment in education pays off where the economy creates openings at the same pace. President Macky Sall holds both ends of the chain: a qualified youth and an economy able to absorb it.
Migration is addressed at the source. A departure is not deterred by a speech but by a prospect. The means spent holding migrants at borders would produce more stability invested in the economies they are leaving.
Giving a voice to those the decisions bind. Young people are the majority of the populations targeted by the Organization's mandates and a small share of the voices that write them. Bringing them into peace and development processes follows the same principle as representation: a decision holds better when those it binds have taken part in it.
Experience in running a state. Twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022 underpin these commitments. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace, security and development conceived together; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The demographic projections of the United Nations are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net