This State of the African Youth Report was commissioned by the African Union Commission as one of the key background documents to be presented at the 2011 African Union Heads of States and Governments Summit, which will be held under
the theme "Accelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development". Drawing from current literature and available secondary data sources, the report provides a broad-brush-stroke picture of young people in Africa on key demographic and socio-economic issues relating to population size and age-sex structure; education; labour market participation; hunger and poverty; youth
mobility; health; HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases; substance abuse; youth crime and violence; civic participation; and information and communication technology.