Different Contexts, Common Aspirations

There is something easy to miss when we talk about young people across the world: we tend to notice their differences before we notice what they have in common.

We see the geography first. We see the country they were born in, the economy they live in, the opportunities available to them, the technology they can access, the institutions around them, and the circumstances that have shaped their lives. We speak about young people in Africa differently from young people in Europe, about those in rural communities differently from those in cities, and about those in developing economies differently from those in more established ones.

And there are good reasons for doing so. Context matters.

A young person growing up in a community without reliable infrastructure faces challenges that another young person with access to world-class schools and digital technology may never encounter. A young entrepreneur in Lagos may need something entirely different from a young farmer in Kigali. A young person living in a Small Island Developing State may be thinking about climate vulnerability in ways that a young person in a landlocked country does not. Geography, economics, culture and institutions shape the possibilities available to people.

But the United Nations’ theme for this year’s International Youth Day, “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” invites us to look beyond those differences.

Because underneath all these different circumstances is a remarkably familiar set of hopes.

Young people want dignity. They want an education that equips them for life. They want meaningful work and the opportunity to contribute. They want to have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. They want to believe that the future is something they can participate in shaping rather than something that will simply happen to them.

The contexts may be different. The aspirations are not. Perhaps this is why conversations about young people can sometimes become too focused on problems.

We talk about unemployment, poverty, migration, digital exclusion, climate change, education gaps and political instability. These are real challenges, and they deserve serious attention. But when we define young people primarily by the problems surrounding them, we risk overlooking something equally important: they are not simply populations to be protected from difficult circumstances. They are people with ideas, ambitions, creativity and an instinct to build.

In many of the places where young people face the greatest structural challenges, they are already creating their own responses.

They are starting businesses with limited capital. They are using technology to solve problems that formal institutions have struggled to address. They are organising their communities. They are developing new approaches to agriculture. They are creating art, building movements, experimenting with new forms of work and finding ways to participate in economies that were not designed with them in mind.

Their circumstances may tell us something about the obstacles they face. They do not tell us everything about what they are capable of becoming.

This distinction is important for every African youth leader. Recognising common aspirations does not mean pretending that differences do not exist. It means recognising that difference should shape the way we respond, but it should not determine who gets to aspire.

Perhaps, then, the measure of the societies we build will be found in whether a young person’s circumstances determine the size of their possibilities, or whether, despite where they begin, they are given the opportunity to discover how far they can go.

And to every young leader at The Fort Institute and beyond: keep going. Keep building. Keep believing that the context you find yourself in does not have to define the limits of what you can become. The world may look different from where you stand, but your aspirations are shared by millions of young people across the globe.

Happy International Youth Day!

Yours in continued leadership,

Louis