The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is organizing a Youth-Voices-for-Change summit aimed at harnessing the potential of young minds in the region for growth, security enhancement, stability, and self-development. The two-day event will commence on June 5, 2024, in Accra, Ghana.
This summit represents a call to action for the youth in the region to explore possibilities for self-realization and empowerment while becoming agents of peace in the socio-economic development of West Africa. It aims to amplify young voices for more inclusive political decision-making and foster peace processes that encourage harmonious coexistence across states.
The event will feature brainstorming and mentoring sessions designed to leverage youth potential and promote dialogue and collaboration between young people, governments, and industry leaders. These sessions will focus on harnessing digital technology to address transitional issues currently faced by countries such as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
Additionally, the summit seeks to encourage youth-led digital innovations addressing regional challenges like unemployment, irregular migration, insecurity, educational gaps, healthcare deficiencies, poverty, criminality, poor governance, misinformation/disinformation, violent extremism among others. A network comprising young innovators, mentors, investors, and policymakers committed to promoting digital innovation is expected to emerge from these engagements.
The theme of the 2024 summit—Youth Digital Innovation for Inclusivity, Regional Growth and Stability—aligns with the fourth pillar of ECOWAS Vision 2050 which aims for "Transformation, Inclusive and Sustainable Development."
The summit is organized in collaboration with partners including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Strengthening Regional Peace and Stability Program (SRPS), West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), and The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Participants include representatives from youth organizations and entrepreneurs across the region as well as civil society members, IT experts, global organizations' representatives along with private sector stakeholders and media personnel.
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