Geoinformatics Hons student selected to present at African Youth SDG Summit

Posted on January 19, 2018

Larissa Pillay a BSc Hons Geoinformatics student had the privilege of attending the first African Youth SDG Summit in Accra, Ghana, 1-2 November 2017. The summit focussed on engaging with the African youth on issues regarding the achievement of sustainable development outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) 2030 Agenda. Hundreds of delegates from across Africa attended the summit to discuss possible solutions and present research on sustainable development challenges.

The two day summit was hosted in the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and boasted a full program that included addresses by Ghanaian government officials and UNDP representatives.  The summit discussed a number of sustainable development issues with sessions on Food Security, Peace and Justice, African youth governance and participation, Healthcare and disability. Larissa had the opportunity of presenting her honours research project that dealt with measuring the level of food security in the City of Tshwane using thematic mapping techniques to disaggregate and visualise census data.  After each session, presenters were given the opportunity to engage with delegates in discussion about the presented research as well as to discuss the challenges of achieving the SDGs and the possible solutions.

The intention of the summit was to encourage youth participation in sustainable development, focused on “youth as Drivers of Sustainable Development”. According to Larissa there were a number of highlights “It was a great honour to have the opportunity to share my research project with people from across the African continent and promote the use of geoinformation sciences as a means to address complex problems. It is always interesting to experience different cultures and meet people from different backgrounds, I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with African youths that are passionate about sustainable development and the prosperity of the African continent”.

Thank you to the African Youth SDG Summit and the South African Geoinformatics Development Fund for funding Larissa attendance of the summit.

- Author Centre for Geoinformation Science

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