Skills Building and Connecting Youth to Opportunities – Active Citizens

The Africa YMCAs have continued empowering youth to being active citizens through skills building and connecting them with opportunities. In the last three years the Africa Alliance of YMCAs has worked with its National Movements towards building strong institutions focusing on effective governance practice and sustainable resources. This has necessitated adopting the Social Enterprise approach for financial sustainability. With the core mission of Empowering youth for the African Renaissance, the Africa YMCA has seen it worthwhile to harness young people’s time, talent and treasure for innovative and entrepreneurial thinking along the Subject to Citizen (S2C) programmatic areas. There is therefore a need to mentor young people, building theirs kills and provide them opportunities to for Active Citizenry. This can be done through volunteer placement, apprenticeship and internship. 

Brian Embeli a Kenya YMCA volunteer and a Young Advocates for Change (YAC) Alumini, has for the last 4 weeks been volunteering at the Nigeria initiating Social Enterprise Conversations amongst his peer (the Youths, Program Staff and the Y’S Men at the Lagos YMCA. The conversations have included conceptualizing a Social Enterprise around sexual abuse of minors- this is an ongoing cocreation process. He will spend some time cascading the ‘’social enterprise gospel’’ in select local YMCAs in Nigeria with his peer in the coming days.

Brian Engaging Youth in Business Modelling and Innovation on Social Enterprise at Mada Hills YMCA Branch, in Nigeria

Ps. Please share stories of youth in your YMCA that are Active Citizens and a bit of what they are doing!