As civic space shrinks and disinformation spreads across the Sahel and neighbouring regions, five organisations including AfricTivistes unveil Digitalise Youth, a project aimed at strengthening the digital resilience of young activists. This initiative, deployed across several African countries, will implement training programmes and innovative technological solutions to promote participatory democracy and protect digital rights.

In recent years in Africa, the shrinking civic space and growing disinformation have profoundly impacted the political landscape. The rise of military regimes and the use of social media as a vector for manipulation have exacerbated tensions, whilst civil society strives to preserve citizen participation.

It is in this context that Digitalise Youth (Strengthening Digital Resilience and Citizen Engagement in West and Central Africa) intervenes to empower young activists and civil society organisations through strengthening their digital skills and use of civic technologies. This project, initiated within the framework of the Digital Democracy Initiative, aims to promote online engagement and equip human rights defenders with the necessary tools to secure their digital presence and combat disinformation.

Over a 12-month period, AfricTivistes aims to achieve the following objectives and impacts:

• Establish 6 citizen innovation labs (Citizen Labs).
• Develop at least 6 technological platforms serving civic activism.
• Fund and support at least 5 civic tech projects to strengthen electoral transparency.
• Raise awareness among thousands of users about digital rights protection.

As part of this project, AfricTivistes proposes several strategic actions:

• CitizenLabs: Training of 60 young people followed by the creation of six innovation spaces dedicated to content production, technological tool development and citizen mobilisation.
• Tech4Democracy: Integration of technological solutions in two Citizen Labs to promote participatory democracy and transparency.
• Hackathon #Tech4Good: Organisation of a regional hackathon to design innovative technological solutions for civic engagement.
• Civic Tech Election Fund: Financial and technical support for at least five civic tech projects aimed at improving electoral transparency.
• Campaign #RightsInTech: Awareness-raising and advocacy for digital rights protection, in collaboration with technology platforms such as Meta and TikTok.

With Digitalise Youth, a new  digital resilience and citizen engagement dynamic will strengthen the use of technology in the service of democracy and human rights. The project places particular emphasis on local leadership, youth and women’s involvement, a participatory approach, and a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to adjust interventions according to local realities.

AfricTivistes, the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Code for Africa (CFA), CFI Media Development, the World Scout Bureau (Africa Region) and the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF), with support from the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), constitute the consortium implementing Digitalise Youth in 14 countries across the Sahel and neighbouring regions: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan  and Togo.

For further information, please send an email to: info@africtivistes.org