YouthAction - DoSomething SocialAction Hub
1. Project Overview
Evidenced from the #EndSARS protests last year was the reality that young Nigerians from every corner of the country and abroad are interested in some form of social action, they are geared up and motivated to do something to stop the agonising experiences from the recklessness of our leaders but the with limited understanding and capacity on what can be done and how. In an effort to bridge this capacity gap, we have been recently funded under the From Protest to Action project to create a digital learning platform where youth leaders and everyday Nigerians can access training to help their social action journey, connecting with resources and tools for social change. The platform is more than a learning portal, it’s a community for social change-makers, from campuses to communities to connect and resource their social impact effort.
The portal will be deployed on www.youthaction.ng/dosomething with enhanced UX/UI and responsive design, mobile-friendly learning platform and social network for change leaders, courses will be local context-focused, yet rich enough to incorporate best practices with quizzes, animations, video, articles and links for convenient learning. Additional modules and learning materials will be added later. The platform will be designed to support up to 100 courses and modules as well as 20,000 active monthly users. The Hub will also be designed as a collaboration platform and social network to provide opportunities for users to exchange ideas, collaborate and network on similar issues to sustain and amplify impact. We intend to have the platform ready for launch by 10th October 2021
2. Scope
The Youth Action Do Something portal will serve as a digital knowledge exchange hub, a component of the From Protests to Action (FPA) project. This collective action platform is designed to mobilize, empower and resource young Nigerians in their renewed interest to demand accountability and deliver a new Nigeria. This platform seeks to mobilise, identify, train, curate, share resources and tools for community action and activism for anyone interested in locally-led social change. It also seeks to create and curate free on-demand videos and other training resources.
At launch, the platform will host ten (10) training modules, presented in progression, each training module will be presented as an animated interactive video of 20-40mins each followed by a quiz and related links and resources for additional resourc
3. About the From Protest to Action: Activating ‘Our’ New Nigeria Project
‘From Protest to Action: Activating our New Nigeria” seeks to leverage the increased passion of young Nigerians to demand accountability and from all levels of government? as well as take forward some of the learnings from the shortcomings of the #EndSARS protests. Conceived as an initiative to answer some of the key questions such as how do we ensure that renewed interest of youth is not wasted and the #EndSARS protests do not go by the way of previous citizens’ actions? How do we ensure adequate protection and safety for youth leaders working to stick it all out, speak amid government crackdown and anti-citizens actions? How do we ensure the rights of protesters, women, and vulnerable groups are protected as they continue to demand and fight for their rights?
- First, it will expand the recently launched Youth Alliance for New Nigeria (YANN) Campaign as a digital knowledge exchange hub – DoSomething Social Action Hub- this collective action platform is designed to mobilize, empower and resource young Nigerians in their renewed interest to demand accountability and deliver a new Nigeria.
- Second, through the instrumentation of the Community Change Champion Program; we seek to identify, train and engage 20 high potential youth leaders who emerged from the protest and other networks, create a community of action and resources as well as training that empowers them with key skills, access mentorship and networks of leaders, institutions and resources that can strengthen their work as change champions.
- Third, we will organize the first-ever Youth Conversations for New Nigeria: a series of national debates and community town halls consultations designed to create awareness and highlight policy issues of importance to young Nigerians from communities to campuses.
- And lastly, through the Legal Commons partnership, we will identify a number of policies issues of importance to young Nigerians and advanced public interest cases to test the validity of these policies and advocate for change through the instrumentation of the law. We will also provide legal support for youth leaders and activists who needs it.
The project is funded under the Voice Project, implemented by Oxfam and Hivos and funded by the Glocal financed by the Ministry of International Affairs, Government of Netherlands
4. About Citizens Common
Citizens’ Common Advocacy International is a citizen action organisation, committed to empowering everyday citizens to take social action targeted at solving small and big societal challenges using the power of community, collaboration, innovation and technology. Through our Community Spaces, we provide the platform to incubate social ideas, engage in community dialogue, explore policy solutions, resource social entrepreneurs, civic leaders and community activists in their resolve to find innovative solutions to social problems. We are an emerging social impact organisation committed to resourcing a generation of social changemakers in their effort to hold the government accountable, promote active citizen participation, and make democracy work for the people.
- We incubate and resource social ideas and organizations for increased citizen action to improve the quality of democracy, social accountability, peace, social, political and economic transformation.
- We facilitate citizens’ input in policymaking through structured conversations on topical issues, campaigns and advocacy, creating platforms to cultivate civic dialogue, engage leaders and policymakers and find collective action for common good through dialogue, research and technology and innovation.
- We work with students and youth leaders to develop their character and leadership positioning them to be active citizens and responsible leaders.
- We position and resource citizens’ ability to hold public leaders accountable using a variety of tools and instrumentation such as advocacy, citizen action, judicial actions, policy debates, administrative appeals and feedback loop for the public service delivery.
- We create the platform (Community Spaces) that engages, empowers and resources everyday people to take action, hold government accountable and explore innovative solutions to solve social issues.
Our interventions are targeted as promoting the principles of a truly democratic, just, peace and just society, ensuring accountable governance and open government, advancing citizens rights and civic engagement, activating citizen action for social impact makers and promoting the success of the sustainable development goals.
More info available at Citizens Commons Website
