LEAP Africa, one of Africa’s leading non-profit organizations focused on youth leadership development and Dow, a global leader in materials science, are pleased to announce the fourth edition of its Pan-African ‘Youth Day of Service (YDoS)’ campaign, a youth-led social impact campaign with the theme – Youthful and Useful.
Scheduled to hold from August 12 – 31, 2023, Youth Day of Service is a month-long campaign that seeks to foster the spirit of service to community and volunteerism among the African youth population, focusing on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This campaign commemorating International Youth Day seeks to rally young people, corporate organisations, Governments, and the Private and Social sectors across Africa to advocate and renew the spirit of active youth citizenship and collective responsibility.
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Speaking at the Pan-African Press Conference and Stakeholders Engagement, Kehinde Ayeni, Executive Director of LEAP Africa, said:
“One of our strategic pillars at LEAP Africa is to raise talents to actualise the SDGs. This campaign demonstrates that LEAP Africa remains committed to youth-led actions for Sustainable Development across Africa. We believe in the power, voices, numbers and agency of young people and that an urgent commitment to creatively engaging with youth, creating platforms such as this and retooling youth with the skills and support to shape SDGs implementation across the continent is the greatest need. We cannot do this alone, therefore, we are fostering partnerships to achieve the goals closer.”
In her remarks, Mumbi Keega, Public Affairs Lead-Africa, Dow, said,
“Dow is committed to fostering positive change and building resilient and sustainable African communities. We believe this can only be achieved by working with the African youth, who are vital to promoting social welfare. Through our partnership with LEAP Africa, we support the Youth Day of Service (YDoS) initiative, which empowers young people to use their skills and talents to make a difference in their communities. We are proud to be a part of YDoS and to support the next generation of African leaders working to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”
In his remarks, Chege Ngugi, Africa Regional Director of ChildFund International, called for increased investment by governments and other stakeholders in youth development programs.
“While many laudable initiatives, such as national youth funds, exist, there is still a dire need to do more to ensure all youth, given the huge number, are adequately resourced to achieve their best potential, no matter where they are from. We must move beyond giving the youth a seat at the table to investing in them to use that seat for good. The youth must be enabled to act as equal partners of positive social change.”
Emerging Leaders Foundation-Africa one of the implementing partners for the Youth Day of Service, represented by Caren Wakoli, the Founder and Executive Director, lauded LEAP Africa for investing in this initiative for the second year in Kenya. Caren noted that ELF-Africa had organised week-long community activities across nine counties, addressing five different SDGs. She further reaffirmed ELF-Africa’s commitment to championing transformational youth action in Kenya and Africa for a sustainable future. Caren concluded by calling on young people and grassroots organisations across Kenya to join the different Youth Day of Service activities in counties near them, especially the nine counties where ELF-Africa will be working, these are Migori, Bungoma, Narok, Kericho, Uasin Gishu, Murang’a, Makueni, and Kilifi.
This year, LEAP Africa will be leveraging the support of strategic partners like ChildFund International, Emerging Leaders Foundation, BellaNaija, Forgotten Bottom Millions, Legit, Zikoko Citizen, W4 Immerse, Dotts Media, African Climate Reality Project, Strategic Youth Network for Development Ghana, Youth Development Organisation Zambia and Global Shapers Community, among others, in delivering the Youth Day of Service.