Global platform to engage youth for development starts

An initiative aimed at enhancing the potential of young people, inspire action and connect them to their peers to overcome common challenges and cause positive change, has been launched.

Global Platform Uganda that is hinged on creative activism to create social change was launched in Apac District on Wednesday.

Young people across the country and the globe will be accessed, mobilised and engaged online, via mobile vans and at a physical location in Apac town.

The initiative will mainly help young people engage on how to become leaders in tackling problems like social injustice, early marriages, drug abuse and drunkenness.

Using the platform, the youth will will also challenge and help each other on how to change their attitude to practically become leaders in business, agriculture, politics, social enterprises among other ideas.

 “It is revolutionary. It means that rather than looking at young people as a problem, you look at them as a source of solutions where they learn from each other to come up with practical solutions and overcome problems,” Mr Xavier Ejoyi, the Country Director of Action Aid Uganda said.

“It is not the traditional classroom where a teacher imparts knowledge. We believe that young people are a repository of knowledge and they have some unique approaches to development they bring on board,” Mr Ejoyi said. “We don’t believe that young people only need to be imparted with knowledge and the skills and so on. Much as we partly do that, young people live things every day. They know what works and what does not work for them. So, the platform will provide that opportunity.”

He said the platform will be an exchange of ideas which is different from formal training.

He said: “We call it engagement. Because they also bring something on the table and that’s the form of learning that takes place. Someone who comes from Kabong, and another one from Masaka or Yumbe.  They all have experiences that are different. So, you will find that cross-fertilisation of approaches to address a particular problem. And that engagement will bring out the best solutions.”

The Global Platform idea, according to Mr Ejoyi is active in Ghana, Denmark, Kenya, Zambia, El Salvador, Palestine, Jordan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“Young people in Uganda will be interfacing on the platforms with their peers in 10 countries across the globe,” he said. “It’s participatory. We believe that we can learn together. We will have facilitators but we also believe every young person has something to contribute towards learning. Learning will be inside and outside the classroom.”

He said they will make sure that your people are active politically and able to analyse the issues around power in business, academia, agriculture among other sectors.

He said since 78 percent of Uganda’s population is in the youth category (between 18-35 years), any public or private institution that does not focus on young people is irrelevant to the development agenda in Uganda. 

“It is a platform. It is a hub, a safe space for providing and facilitating the capacity and potential of young people. They can come and discover their potential and enhance their capacity to contribute towards the development of this country,” he said.

Ms Beatrice Akello, the Apac Resident District Commissioner, said if the youth have the right skills and knowledge, they will be in charge of their destiny.

 The District Speaker, Mr Peter Obong Acuda, who launched the platform described it as “fantastic”, the “functional initiative” to lift young people from unemployment and poverty.