Adolescents, defined by WHO as the life stage spanning 10 -19 years of age, constitute nearly a quarter of Africa’s population, estimated at 333 million. , Despite being a sizeable portion of the continent’s population, adolescents have not been a priority in law, policy and programming. They straddle between child rights and youth rights, girls’ rights and women’s rights, with neither framework comprehensively meeting their needs. The UNCRC recognises this gap “…in implementing their obligations under the Convention, States parties have not given sufficient attention to the specific concerns of adolescents as rights holders and to promoting their health and development” in its General Comment No 4.

Balancing adolescents’ autonomy with their protection needs in law and policy is crucial yet challenging. Adolescents are at a developmental stage where their evolving capacities allows for greater independence in decision-making. At the same time, the socioeconomic, political and cultural environments make them vulnerable. They encounter physical, mental and sexual health challenges, violence and exploitation challenges in accessing education, limited prospects for transitioning into fulfilling and rewarding work, all of which are worse for adolescents in marginalized, underserved areas. The multiple complex crises across many African countries heighten the risks to millions of adolescents who live in less ideal or “high-risk” situations. Lack of sufficiently disaggregated data further entrenches their invisibility in policy and planning.

With persistent, fast-evolving challenges in Africa, it is timely to have a multidisciplinary, pan-African dialogue on the rights of adolescents in Africa, to pave the way for legal, policy reform and greater investments across childhood.

Overall objective

• • To catalyse legal, policy and programme reform that advances the rights and wellbeing of adolescents in Africa.

Specific objectives

• • To deepen understanding of adolescence in Africa using an intersectional approach;
  • To promote the uptake and integration of knowledge into a rights-based and adolescent-centred law, policy and programme reform.
  • To facilitate cross learning (country, regions, sectors) on evidence-based good practices that promote adolescents’ wellbeing; and
  • To generate greater commitment and action at pan-African, sub-regional and national levels in the realization of the rights and wellbeing of adolescents.

• Building an African perspective of adolescence: their unique vulnerabilities, risks that manifest based on gender, intersexuality, economic status, disability, parental status, place of residence.
• Laws, policies and systems interagency coordination and collaboration
• Active citizenship, adolescent agency and autonomy and meaningful participation in law and policy making processes
• Protection from violence, abuse, exploitation, trafficking and slavery, including those occurring in and facilitated by the digital space, international travel and tourism.
• Access to health, nutrition, protection, education, justice and sexual and reproductive health services and information, and the extent to which such services are age-appropriate, gender-service and inclusive of the needs of adolescents of diverse sociocultural and economic backgrounds
• Adolescent mental health, including the impact of violence, trauma and adversities on adolescent mental health, access to services that address mental health and behavioural challenges
• Criminalisation of adolescent behaviour, the extent to which responses to adolescent substance relies on the criminal justice system rather than on child, social protection systems, health, rehabilitation and education sectors.
• The digital space: access to the digital environment, digital literacy and equity considerations, the urban-rural digital divide, online safety and protection, online activism and citizenship.
• Education, training and preparation for meaningful work: optimising education systems and curricula, training and skilling of adolescents to prepare them for the world of work in a globalized digital world, including through technical and vocational training
• Access to justice, including issues related to age of criminal responsibility, age of sexual consent and age determination challenges, as well as access to adolescent-friendly justice processes and procedures, including in the context of plural legal systems and conflicts
• Adolescents in conflict situations, on the move and in humanitarian emergencies, how these challenges compromise their very survival, development and protection and the ways through which such challenges can be comprehensively addressed

• A research paper on the rights and wellbeing of adolescents in Africa
• Factsheets on the state of adolescents in Africa
• A documentary film capturing the voices of adolescents

• Improved knowledge on and understanding adolescents’ rights and wellbeing, their risks and vulnerabilities and the gaps in the respect, promotion and fulfilment of their rights.
• Greater awareness on adolescent needs, including services that are adapted across a child’s life cycle
• Recognition of the voice and agency of adolescents and their capacity to claim their rights and influence the public discourse
• Improved understanding of evidence-based practices to diverse sectors engagement and interaction with adolescents.
• Greater commitment among policy makers, CSOs to act on violations, abuse and neglect of adolescents in law, policy, programming and budgeting.

Diverse cross-sections of stakeholders from Africa and the globe. Adolescents, youth, representatives of governments, law and policymakers, AU and UN, CSOs, academics and researchers, development and humanitarian partners, survivors, girls and women’s and disabled people’s rights groups.

28-29 October 2025, Ethiopian SkyLight Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.