LEAP Africa has launched a yearly Youth Day of Service campaign designed to offer young people and corporate organisations in Nigeria the opportunity to transform society through a series of projects.
The ‘Youth Day of Service’ (YDoS), is an action-driven social impact campaign, which would take place on August 12th, 2020, and the days following, as a way of commemorating the ‘International Youth Day.
YDoS invites young people and youth-focused organisations across sectors and locations around Nigeria to participate in social change projects that are targeted at one of the sustainable development goals. Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has endorsed the initiative.
Participants will carry out physical projects or active virtual advocacy in different locations as either project initiators or volunteers on existing projects listed on the YDoS online portal, https://yds.leapafrica.org/projects/.
“In the context of the SDGs, this is the decade of action. The Youth Day of Service provides young people with the opportunity to carry out different projects in communities across Nigeria in line with the SDGs,” Femi Taiwo, executive director LEAP Africa said during a press conference announcing the YDoS campaign.
With only a decade to reach the global goals, LEAP Africa is committed to building the capacity of young people as ready talents for the actualisation of the SDGs.
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“The Youth Day of Service presents us with a unique opportunity to mobilise the efforts, energies, creativity, and agency of young people across the board; and to rally an ecosystem of like-minded organisations to support and advance efforts towards localising and achieving the SDGs,” Taiwo said.
It has become important for the private, public, and development sectors to forge partnerships that will transform the situation of Africa’s youth.
“Our experience at with over a million students and alumni at Junior Achievement Africa (JAN) has shown that when young people are given an enabling environment, they can start businesses that solve social problems,” Oduolayinka Osunloye, director Marketing & Innovation, JAN said at the LEAP Africa’s YDOS media event.
Enabling prosperity for young people has become a priority for global policies including the SDGs. Partnerships among organisations offer viable pathways in realising these aspirations.
“Driving partnerships is our strength and this is SDG goal 17 we are focusing on. We will amplify, accelerate, and give each YDoS project a voice,” Tayo Olosunde, executive director, MindtheGap said.
The YDoS is an open initiative that meant to foster strong collaborations for like-minded individuals and organisations
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”
The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, is part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda.
