Learn. Debate. Engage.
About Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF)
YTF is an international non-profit organization. With its work over 15 years in 5 countries, YTF has extensive experience at the nexus of education and entrepreneurship using appropriate technology. In the education sphere, YTF provides civic education tools and technology to often disenfranchised citizens (youth and women) to empower them to interact better with elected leaders and government officials.
In 2010, YTF worked with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to train over 2,000 youth who served as election monitors during the 2011 elections. In 2014, YTF worked with UN Women to deliver training and technology tools to women in Nigeria to increase their understanding of civic responsibilities, deepening their political participation.
History of PeaceOpoly
PeaceOpoly evolved from Youth for Technology Foundation’s (YTF) award-winning program, Yes, Youth Can! a civic education and peace-building program that teaches conflict management strategies to Nigerian youth, as well as providing a range of tools to support community dialogue, conflict analysis, negotiation and reconciliation. The program received recognition at the World Bank Innovation Fair in 2009.
The Yes, Youth Can! evaluations found that students were more positive about their ability to influence change in the government than students that did not participate in the program. They also showed more political interest, were more likely to become politically engaged. These findings suggested that Yes, Youth Can! was effective in changing young people’s views and likelihood of engaging politically.
PeaceOpoly educates and empowers youth to play a positive role in Africa’s nascent democracy while introducing them to useful technologies they can use to create and enhance inclusivity and accountability in relationships between citizens, political leaders and public services providers. PeaceOpoly is equipping a cadre of youth leaders to monitor, gather data, evaluate, report and mobilize their communities and improve public service delivery.
The PeaceOpoly slogan, “Learn, Debate, Engage,” reflects the programs’ three pronged-approach. Youth convene to learn civic education and their rights as citizens; they debate the issues in their communities and then initiate a community-based plan, engaging others to help solve the problems.
YTF’s work with Yes, Youth Can! and PeaceOpoly in Nigeria contributed to the youth voice and Nigeria’s first successful and peaceful transition of power since 1960.
Program Outcomes
The political and social inclusion of young people will result in positive outcomes for the young people themselves and for society in general. Young people benefit from greater civic engagement through enhanced skills, confidence, self-esteem and a greater awareness of their rights.
Five outcomes will contribute to the achievement of the stated project objectives.
Outcome 1: Increased citizens’ awareness of their rights, responsibilities and entitlements to quality public services.
Outcome 2: Increased empowerment of citizens to participate in, negotiate with, and hold accountable public policy-makers and political leaders.
Outcome 3: Increased involvement of citizens and communities in planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of the quality, access and quantity of public services (e.g. education, healthcare, sanitation, water).
Outcome 4: Influence decisions by policy-makers through youth-led social organizing and mobilization.
Outcome 5: A custom platform (“Citizen Forum”) that will organize citizens, mobilize resources, gather information and create dynamic, scalable resources, as well as a national community of citizen problem-solvers who will improve government accountability and performance.