Review articleYouth in Sub-Saharan Africa
Section snippets
Education
One of the most significant changes in SSA over the past generation has been the increase in the education of its young people and most specifically young women. In 1980, 19% of males in SSA were enrolled in secondary school, as were 10% of females. Twenty years later, it was 29% of males and 23% of females [5]. Although a positive trend, it is in fact a much more modest gain than in the rest of the developing world [6].
The strong link between the amount of education attained and a wide range
Family Formation
School enrollment and age of family formation are closely intertwined for the younger the age of marriage the lower the educational achievement. For West and Middle Africa there has been a substantial decline in marriage among young women 15–19 years old and 20–24 years old (there are no comparable declines for men in that region of SSA). In Eastern and Southern Africa, although the changes for young females marrying are less dramatic, fewer young women marry today compared with years past.
Mortality
In SSA, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the leading cause of death among youth 15–29 years of age [29]. Today, nearly 12 million youth are living with HIV worldwide, of who 9 million are in SSA [30]. Although AIDS is clearly on the agendas of many nations in SSA, youth's role in the epidemic is often unacknowledged. Young people account for approximately half of all new infections [31].
Although the overall prevalence of HIV within SSA is higher than any other region of the world,
Sexual and Reproductive Morbidity
Beyond AIDS and obstetrical complications, reproductive health related conditions are a major cause of morbidity among young women in SSA. Specifically, the WHO estimates that in “high mortality countries” (including all of SSA), among women 15–29 years of age sexual and reproductive health problems account for 63% of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), of which 37% is due to AIDS.
Individual behaviors
Three studies from SSA explored the relationships among risky, non-sexual behaviors and sexual initiation among adolescents [46], [47], [48]. What emerge are six factors that are significantly interrelated: early sexual activity, weapon carrying, attending discos/clubs, smoking cigarettes, using drugs, and using alcohol. In Zambia, for example, adolescents who used alcohol are almost two times more likely to have had sex [46], [47]. In Kenya, the relationship between alcohol and sexual
Conclusion
Youth in SSA are experiencing rapid social change, with fewer resources than the rest of either the developing or industrialized world. Child survival has allowed more young people to emerge into adolescence; however, in SSA, these youth are poorer, have less education, have more rapid population growth, have higher maternal mortality, have greater HIV prevalence, and have fewer vocational options than anywhere else in the world. This does not need to remain their reality; but it will require a
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part through the William H. Gates Sr. Endowment, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and The World Bank.
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