Innovation Lab for Women & Girls advancement project establishes a virtual and physical space for exploring innovative ways of addressing issues affecting the Youth. The lab engages the youthful exuberances and intellectual prowess of Nigerian youths, in and out of school, to amplify their voices in addressing the most marginalisation and discrimination they face. This is achievable through a four-pronged approach strategy:

1. SUPPORTING capacity development of young people, including youth representative bodies, to empower them and prepare them better for the future;
2. ENGAGING through outreach, advocacy and mainstreaming of youth issues in all spheres of development planning;
3. INFLUENCING through thought leadership training, national policy dialogues, debates, that include the voices of marginalised youth via radio programmes and build on improved data collection (VOICE dairies, Hotlines, Research Competition) to monitor development process;
4. SUSTAINING through support to operationalising institutional framework (of Youth2Youth Network for Social Change) for more effective strategies to protect young men and women from exploitation, neglect and support their informed and active participation in all spheres of society.

Empowering Youth to co-create solutions to challenges affecting them  

Young people in Nigeria are facing challenges ranging from sexual exploitation and abuse to high unemployment, which have left them vulnerable to political manipulation and radicalisation by militant elements.  Young people view cooperation with established political institutions as “dirty” and prefer to work outside of existing political parties and structures, which had led to low youth turnout in general elections. Young people are generally unaware of their legally enshrined human rights and the rights applicable to them due to their age. Cost of education and access to quality – secondary and technical education as well as ICT education is a far-fetched dream. These overlapping challenges represent a complex mix of marginalisation directed toward youth, which together creates a system of enduring inequality that has stark implications over the duration of a young person’s life. Despite the grim picture painted by these realities, a few potential opportunities for social change exist. 

Women and Girls Advancement and Resources Centre (WAG ARC) is an Abuja based non-governmental organisation working to improve the socio-economic, political and psychological well-being and the health conditions of the most discriminated and marginalised group of the society – women/girls and youth. The aim is to improve the social wellbeing of women and youths (male and female adolescents) in Nigeria by providing support to them based on emerging trends and dynamics of the country in economic empowerment, civic and social participation and leadership, sexual reproductive health rights and access to employment and other essential services including education, water & sanitation and health care. 

WAG ARC implemented a project titled “Innovation Lab: Youth to Youth Flagship” aimed at establishing a virtual and physical space for young people to explore innovative ways of addressing issues affecting them; it was hoped that through this space, young people especially those who lack self-worth and vision can bond, empower and encourage each other; and learn from one another. To achieve this, the space (which is considered as a social lab) brought together, young people from diverse background- educated & uneducated; middle class & poor; those with disability; those with talent etc. into a boot camp for purposes of learning, empowerment & networking. 

Teresa, a young woman who has been told all her life that she is ugly (because her sister is very beautiful) was a participant in the boot camp. This made her timid, withdrawn and with little/no self-esteem. Teresa’s journey through the boot camp started with acceptance of who she was, recognition of the beauty and talents within, appreciating her self-worth and thereby building her self-esteem. The trainings progressed to public speaking sessions, which helped, build her confidence as she realised that when her self-esteem was restored, she enjoyed speaking in public. One of her remarkable feedback after the boot camp was ‘I feel loved, accepted and not judged. I know I do not have talent and do not measure to an average artist in Nigeria, but I do not feel the pressure or being judged’. Today, Teresa has regained confidence in herself, built her self-esteem and was able to meet new people outside her family. She is no longer depressed and looked forward to the future with so much hope. 

The story of Teresa is one out of many successful experiences of the boot camp. Over 100 young Nigerians were able to explore their artistic talents in different ways during the boot camp and acquire some needed life skills. It was beautiful to witness interaction of young people from diverse backgrounds, sharing their perception of life and expectations for the future. For some, it is about daily means of sustenance, for some, it is about traveling abroad for greener pastures. The project provided the platform for young undergraduates to engage during academic strike in the country, as many of them were out of school.  

Some of the lessons drawn from implementing this project was that when a critical mass of youths are brought together for social change, social development is maximised. Hence, there is a need to create more spaces for youth to engage with each other with the aim of learning from one other but also designing joint solutions to shared challenges.