Children’s rights in Africa “Africa rising” will remain a children’s fairy tale unless governments protect the continent’s young people Africa is the world’s youngest continent. About 40% of Africans—some 416m people—are 14 years old or younger, according to a 2012 African Development Bank report. Another 200m between the ages of 15 and 24 live on the continent, according to the OECD, a Paris-based think-tank. These youngsters represent a potential “demographic dividend”, one of the main pillars of the optimistic “Africa rising” narrative. The demographic dividend occurs when a country reduces its fertility and child and infant mortality rates, creating a…
