Young people across the continent of Africa are solving problems in their communities and championing positively impactful causes.
In recent years and with the development of communication platforms like social media, African youth have maximized these platforms in amplifying their voices to create awareness, garner support and see projects to completion.
In a world where narratives are important and stories are no longer told by chance, young people in Africa are looking into their local communities and taking responsibility for the future they want to see.
These changemakers are not only lending their skill and time towards Africa’s development but serve as a source of inspiration that great things begin with an individual and can be done from a small place.
Do you want to be a change-maker but don’t know where to look? Here are 5 sectors to consider:
- Education
- Health
- Human Rights
- Digital Literacy
- Environment
- Education
Quality education is the pipeline for national development. As society and technology continues to advance and become complex, there’s a need to continuously improve and adapt our educational systems and content to measure up.
You can consider projects educational niches like:
- Educational infrastructure (school buildings, laboratory stocking etc)
- Scholarships and school items like uniforms and books for schoolkids
- Educational content (working towards improving the curriculum and teaching highly sought skills in the labour market)
- Organising interschool competitions
- Health
The health space is one that will always require active participation. From locally organised community projects to global health outreaches, the involvement of young people willing to learn and help will always be important.
Here are a few ways to participate:
- Volunteer in and design local health outreaches
- Advocate against general health misconceptions and bad practices
- Be a voice for building health awareness using your social media
- Human Rights
Underrepresentation and inequality still persists in many societies and spheres. In the face of war, insecurity, poverty and bad governance, the rights of members of society often get trampled on and abused.
Change-makers in the human rights space can contribute by:
- Advocating and creating awareness on human rights using social media
- Participating in local community work to help victims and teach about human rights
- Conduct research at local community level to expose human rights violations and drive policy engagement
- Digital Literacy
As the world becomes increasingly digital, millions still lack the skills to navigate online spaces confidently and safely. Beyond basic computer use, digital literacy now means the ability to think critically about information, protect one’s data, and participate meaningfully in a tech-driven society.
Changemakers in this field can:
- Organise outreaches to teach the safe use of digital spaces and tools
- Create awareness on the growing digital divide and facilitate action
- Environment
From pollution and deforestation to waste management and renewable energy, environmental issues are complex and interconnected.
Changemakers in this space can:
- Organise local community clean-ups
- Educate young children on climate change
- Create awareness on how to manage waste
- Advocate for clean energy
Conclusion
Changemaking is identifying a problem and taking action to solve it in ways that improves lives especially in one’s immediate community. The first step is to see a problem and purposefully take action towards solving it. The Africa we want to build is within reach, let’s go for it.
