Position Statement
Africa is groaning under the weight of its youth demography with consequences felt around the world. Despite this current reality, youth have continued to demonstrate willingness to take on challenges affecting the continent by creating new pathways of transformation through Education and the Knowledge capital. More-so, they are contributing in diverse ways towards achieving their country’s economic goals. However, there is the persistent challenge of economic and social exclusion invariably paving the way for growing inequality evident between African youth and their contemporaries around the world.
Given various global call to action among leaders to assist Africa reap the dividends of its youth bulge, it is pertinent to mention that the values African youth share with their peers around the world are embedded in “Agenda2063.” More than ever, African youth are seeking ways to accelerate the actualization of this ambition as it offers profound pathways for us to LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND
Our Principles
Young People First
At YiSHDA, we work with governments, and policy makers to create safe spaces for young people, enabling them to play frontline, and active leadership roles
Democratic Participation
There’s perennial challenge of political leadership in Africa that has informed call to action(s), and birthed frameworks on youth participation in politics. We believe youth participation in democratic processes will help build good governance system and catalyze inclusive growth
Partnerships for Youth
A critical aspect of our work is to respond to the overarching issues affecting young people through consensus building. To achieve this, we take into cognizance the need to engage and, collaborate with critical stakeholders.
Expanding Equal Opportunities
Women and Young girls are heterogeneous group that suffer social, economic and, political exclusion in most African countries. We find ways of standing by them through initiatives that can influence gender-friendly policies, and take actions that tackle all forms of discrimination against them
Economic Growth
Sustained economic growth through small and medium enterprise has proven to greatly improve on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), job creation, and the employment outlook across Africa. However, a great concern for us is the increasing need to bring Africa’s millennial generation up to speed on the knowledge and application of 21st century skills which is a strong requirement for keying into the rapid advancement in technology
Informed Action
Our advocacy focus enables us to demand for aggregated data to drive the realization of development targets. It remains a known fact that the dearth of data makes our ambitions far-reaching. We strongly hold on to the belief that DATA is one of the most important factors in addressing our complex and interconnected challenges
