The Youth Bridge Foundation (YBF) is an independent non-profit organization committed to youth development in Ghana, across the continent of Africa and among Diasporan young people. It strives to achieve its purpose and mandate through cutting-edge and evidence-based youth research, sustained advocacy, training and mentorship.
In advocating for improved social accountability and participatory governance, YBF acknowledges the challenge of incompetency of the Youth as a result of low understanding of the issues, lack of confidence to engage policy makers and the sense of intimidation resulting from the power distance between the elderly/leaders and subordinates as enshrined in African societal norms and values.
It is for this reason the African Youth and Governance Convergence (AYGC) was convened in 2009 and has been successfully running for the past 12 years as an annual platform for training young people in Ghana, Africa and the Diaspora in the areas of (a) leadership (b) mentorship (c) community impact, and (d) networking. AYGC is an institutionalized Youth leadership programme that converges Youth and their assigned mentors, coaches and development experts to share experiences, lessons and deliberate on issues affecting the Continent.
Although YBF through the AYGC has chalked many successes registered across African countries; building of an empowered Youth, birth of many Youth led initiatives and the influencing of national and continental policies about the Youth, the Foundation acknowledges an un-bridged gap of the inclusion of Lusophone and North Africa Youth. When it comes to continental agenda setting and the startup scene for example, Lusophone Africa is the most disconnected, primarily because of the language barrier. This challenge is what YBF seeks to address through the AYGC initiative with specific focus on the Lusophone countries ie. African Youth of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea.
This year’s AYGC (2020) was successfully organised virtually in September and for the first time hosted African Youth from Lusophone countries through the support of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). AYGC made provision for the French and Portuguese speaking Lusophone Countries in its documentations and also adopting a multi-lingua approach to the deliberations. There were interpretations available in English, French and Portuguese with some media collaborations from the Lusophone side. The Foundation is hopeful this is but a step towards the promotion of youth inclusive democracy in Africa with a focus on Lusophone African youth.
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About Youth Bridge Foundation
Youth Bridge Foundation is a youth-focused NGO committed to equitably harnessing and developing the potentials of the youth in Ghana, and across the African continent and Diaspora to become responsible citizenry in shaping world development.
In carrying out its mission, the Foundation seeks to also equip the youth with appropriate capacity, platforms and resources that shall enhance their socio-economic and mental well-being; and to advocate for inclusion and responsiveness to youth developmental needs and rights by those responsible for upholding such rights. For the latest news and information about Youth Bridge Foundation, visit www.youthbridgefoundation.org.