Speak Africa

Speak Africa is a youth-focused Pan-African multi-media communication initiative designed to empower and provide young voices with the opportunity to share their stories and experiences. Youths produce media to be shown to the widest audience possible through:

* print
* radio
* TV
* internet
* community theatre

UNICEF was named as the lead agency for organizing and supporting youth participation of the 13- to 19-year-old age group of youths as well as the Speak Africa media campaign.

Speak Africa attempts to embrace the power of art and popular culture to engage young people across divergent socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. In this spirit Speak Africa engages the power of artistes to:

* Rally young people
* Promote positive African identity
* Magnify young voices
* Access media platforms

Intent

Speak Africa aims to spark a movement where discussion and expression will be harnessed to initiate change and social transformation by:

* Mobilizing and empowering youth to use the tool of media to facilitate youth exchange, partnerships and action for positive change; providing media skills, tools and technology to young people
* Amplifying the voices of youth through multiple media formats, networks and artforms (eg. music, visual art and theatre) to provide an outlet and platform for their expressions, experience, challenges, ideas and visions to be heard engaging artists, youth activist/celebrities (artists, athletes, etc) to inspire and mobilize young Africans
* Building bridges between youth and decision makers - creating an enabling environment for discussion among young people, inter-generational exchange and understanding, development of youth friendly policies, strategies and investments and increased public accountability.

Inspiration

Speak Africa recalls the contribution of young Africans in the independence movements and the fight against Apartheid, rues the missed opportunities of the decades that followed independence and acknowledges that it is once again the young people of the continent who have the most at stake and have the power and energy to bring about meaningful transformation within their countries and across the continent. If not harnessed for positive use these energies are just as or even more powerful in their destructive capacity – something we witness as the majority of criminals on the continent are youth, and national armies and rebel groups are for the most part staffed by young people. The future of the African continent is bound to the fate of the generation of adolescents and youth who continue to face major challenges in education, employment opportunities, gender bias and gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS and a host of other challenges. Only with the active participation of those facing the brunt of these challenges, the youth of Africa, will we be able to bring about change. Speak Africa is all about facilitating that participation.

See also

* [http://www.africafront.com/news/136/speak_africa_media_training_workshop_opens_in_addis_ababa.html Speak Africa Media Training]
* [http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_36585.html African Development Forum set to focus on key role of young people]