Youths in 4 countries

Youth Baton has reached more than 50.000 youths in the 4 countries

The youth project #YouthBaton implemented by SustainableEnergy in cooperation with Umande Trust (Kenya), MFC (Mali), CEAS (Burkina Faso) and Livaningo (Mozambique) is now completed. The project explored new ways of engaging in meaningful campaign partnerships between estab-lished national NGOs and smaller youth groups. It also tested alternative forms of documentation using social media platfoms to mobilize young people across borders to campaign around some well-defined environmental problems. Twitter, Instagram, and especially Facebook were used to disseminate project activities and results among participants serving as sources of inspiration across borders. According to Osewe Ramogi, #YouthBaton coordinator, the project has been a success: “Especially, the focus on integrating social media has been an interesting tool for documentation and disseminating results. Moreover, the project has contributed with new experience in different ways of composing partnerships”.

Representatives from youth groups in all 4 countries were during the project period brought together in workshops in both Nairobi and Ouagadougou discussing and planning methods and techniques capable of mobilizing other youths around climate change issues. Osewe Ramogi notes that: “One of the main results of the project is the experience gained in planning, implementing, documenting, and disseminating activities and results including how to mobilize and reach a wider audience in campaigning”.

Over 2 years the project implemented 15 campaigns within deforestation, clean energy, sanitation, and solid waste management reaching more than 50.000 youths in the 4 countries. “The youth groups played an important role in organising and implementing activities, tapping on the knowledge of the NGOs, which translated into successful campaigns. The youth are important drivers for changes, and the youths only needed reaffirmation and support to direct their energy and potential towards tangible results. Thus, the project benefitted from the partnerships with the youth especially in terms of outreach, innovation, and mobilization”, says Osewe Ramogi.

The project has got a good deal of attention in all countries, and the partners managed to col-laborate with many different segments of society thereby boosting the different campaigns. In Denmark, the project has given inspiration to the young volunteers in SustainableEnergy’s youth department YoungEnergy, who also had representatives present in the 2 project workshops in Nairobi and Ouagadougou.