This aims to improve youth participation in governance and decision-making at local and national levels in Uganda. The intervention outcomes include:

Outcome 1: Enhanced responsiveness of duty bearers to the needs of the youth in Uganda; and

Outcome 2: Enhanced participation of youth/groups/organisations in governance and decision-making spaces.

As a key member of the consortium, Advance Afrika will provide technical leadership on Outcome 2, focusing on building and strengthening youth-led organisations and structures to safeguard and expand civic space for meaningful youth participation in governance.  The project will provide innovative solutions such as mentorship programs, leadership training, and digital platforms for advocacy. This outcome will equip young people with the skills, confidence, and tools needed to navigate governance structures. Through the establishment of networks and coalitions, youth will have collective power to advocate for policy changes and shape decisions that impact their lives. By integrating technology and creative approaches like youth-led campaigns and peer- to-peer learning, we will empower youth to be key drivers of change and ensure their active participation in shaping the future.

BrighterMonday Uganda is one of the leading online job-matching platforms in Uganda. Established in 2014, BrighterMonday Uganda has played a pivotal role in connecting young Ugandans to meaningful employment opportunities. Through our platform, we have served over 600,000 job seekers and 8,000 employers, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, tourism, hospitality, and ICT.

Advance Afrika is working together with BrighterMonday Uganda as a mobilisation partner in the upskilling programme to identify young people in the districts of Pakwach, Nebbi, Zombo, Madi Okollo, Arua, and Terego in West Nile region that are transitioning from education to the workforce, seeking full-time employment, entrepreneurship opportunities, or further specialization in their fields.

The overall objective is that the livelihood of young people is improved and sustained through access to self-employment opportunities. The project seeks to achieve one outcome: youth are economically empowered to start and run resilient, sustainable enterprises.

Key beneficiaries include 300 youths aged 18 to 35, 50/50 in gender, and at least 3% of persons with disabilities. These will include youths in formal or non-formal technical training and youth enterprises. The project will collaborate with business mentors, digital ambassadors, parish leaders, local governments, and private and public actors to contribute effectively to youth entrepreneurship development.

SO1) to strengthen existing platforms for young women and men by promoting their participation in key decision-making processes and policies for development through creative advocacy from the parish to the national level;

SO2) to enhance existing youth enterprises and local community-based youth-focused organisations with innovative cost-efficient approaches and socio-economic empowerment.

The action will be implemented in West Nile districts, these include Pakwach, Arua and Terego.

The implementing partners will work with  different stakeholders on different levels which will include; Ministry of Gender, the Parliament of Uganda, the Electoral Commission, local governments at district and sub-county levels. Community structures like Business mentors, digital ambassadors, parish leaders, youth councillor, women Councillors, Public and private actors – DIT, UNBS, URSB, URA, research institutions, financial institutions and BDS actors AND Civil Society actors.

The action is in response to the rise in teenage pregnancies in Busoga and West Nile. A total of 354,736 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020 and 196,499 in the first six months of 2021 (UNFPA). The most affected districts in Eastern Uganda were Kamuli district (6,535), Luuka (5,111) and in West Nile were Arua (4,705) and Nebbi (3,668). The major causes of teenage pregnancies include forced marriage, poverty, low educational levels, inadequate knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, lack of life skills, neglect by parents, sexual abuse, media influence; peer pressure; early marriage/childbearing, lack of role models, behavioural barriers to adolescent family planning uptake even when the services are available.

A project inception meeting was organised in each of the target districts to present the action to the stakeholders. Participants were able to learn about the project, its implementation areas and stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. Key district actors welcomed the intervention calling it timely. The RDC Luuka District said that young girls, even those that were now young mothers, should be encouraged to return to school and learn. He also pledged support for action and all efforts to ensure that young girls go to school. The Vice Chairperson of Kamuli district also pointed out the fear of young girls accessing health centres due to shame. This would indeed endanger the lives of these young girls and their unborn children. It is therefore key to ensure that they access antenatal care from their respective health centres. She further encouraged the use of role models who can share their experiences so as to have young girls learn from others that have been in their shoes and made the right choices. Many of the district leaders also appreciated the fact that the action will also target boys as any solution that does not look at them is incomplete. The meetings were all concluded with a promise to support the action.