The IFLA Sub-Saharan African Regional Division Committee (IFLA SSA RDC) sent one of its members as a representative to the 4th African Youth Sustainable Development Goals Summit, taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This participation provided an opportunity to build capacity amongst librarians locally.

The fourth African Youth SDGs Summit was hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 9-11 March 2022. Under the theme ‘youth resilience in the COVID-19 era: pathways to accelerate actions towards achieving the SDGs’, it provides an opportunity to build awareness and alliances with key emerging leaders across the continent.

Through its participation, the Regional Division Committee sought to develop informed resilient youths to accelerate action in the Sub-Saharan Africa region towards achieving the SDGs in the COVID-19 era. IFLA SSA RDC was represented by its member, Damilare Oyedele.

The summit started with delegates coming from around Africa and from various regions of Ethiopia, setting out their perspectives on the theme.

Already on day one, a side event brought together young library leaders in Ethiopia, members of the ECA Library, Goethe-Institute (Addis Ababa), and library stakeholders in Ethiopia, to discuss the theme: Equitable Access to Information for All: Prerequisite for Developing Informed Resilient Youths to Accelerate Action Towards Achieving SDGs in Covid-19 Era.

Making the most of the presence of an IFLA representative, in advance of the conference, a training workshop was organized for emerging library leaders, information and knowledge management professionals on the theme: SDGs, Advocacy, Voluntary National Review (VNR) Process, and Design Thinking. The workshop’s opening session was facilitated by Ms. Irene Onyancha, Chief of the Knowledge Management Services Section at ECA, with a keynote addressed from Pedro Antonio, ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary, who officially opened the workshop.