More than 80 young health professionals, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and higher education representatives gathered at Ubuntu Rising 2026 to identify practical changes needed to strengthen young people's role in Africa's health systems. The event, convened by the Africa Health Collaborative and hosted by the University of Cape Town, aimed to move beyond consultation and give young people a direct role in shaping priorities and solutions for the continent's health future. The discussions took place ahead of the 18th World Congress on Public Health.
The recommendations emerged from a backdrop of significant employment and health workforce paradox in Africa. According to the Mastercard Foundation's Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026, 90 per cent of employed young Africans work in the informal economy, while only 10 per cent of youth jobs are formal. Additionally, 34 per cent of employed young Africans live in households below the $2.15-a-day poverty line, and just nine per cent have completed tertiary education. These statistics highlight the need for reforms in the health sector.
Africa faces a shortage of 5.5 million health workers, while nearly one million trained health professionals are without meaningful work, according to the WHO Regional Office for Africa's Health Workforce Reports 2024 and 2025. For Prof. Brandon Collier-Reed, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the University of Cape Town, this disconnect calls for a broader measure of progress. He emphasized that employment, on its own, is not the goal, but rather whether the systems built are working for young Africans.
The nine recommendations developed at Ubuntu Rising centre on leadership, innovation, and employment. Rather than focusing only on the number of young people trained or employed, participants identified changes needed within the institutions and systems that shape their opportunities. The recommendations will contribute to the Africa Health Collaborative's Youth Agenda and inform its future programming and partnerships.
Dr. Nathina Pakade, Public Health Medicine Registrar at the University of Cape Town and the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, reflected on the gap between young people's potential and the institutional pathways available to them. She emphasized that meaningful participation is moving beyond simply being present in the room to having the opportunity to influence what happens in that room.
The Africa Health Collaborative is a multi-year partnership working to strengthen primary health care systems across Africa through health workforce development, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The initiative contributes to the Mastercard Foundation's Young Africa Works strategy to enable 30 million young people, particularly women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
The recommendations developed at Ubuntu Rising will now feed into the Africa Health Collaborative's Youth Agenda, helping to ensure that young people's perspectives inform the Collaborative's programmes, partnerships, and engagement with the wider health ecosystem. Prof. Tracey Naledi, Deputy Dean for Social Accountability and Health Systems at the University of Cape Town, emphasized that the Collaborative's work is done with young people and informed by young people, and increasingly led by young people.
Key points
- Young Africans propose nine reforms to strengthen the continent's health systems.
- The reforms centre on leadership, innovation, and employment.
- The recommendations will contribute to the Africa Health Collaborative's Youth Agenda.
