By La'eeqa Martin, Stuart Morrison, Sindile Vundla | AMAP Program Team
The Africa Matters Ambassadors Program (AMAP) has reached the end of the second quarter in our 2023-24 program cycle. As we reflect on the developments over the last three months since our last report, we stand back to take stock of what we are working towards as a program to advance youth development across the African continent.
On 12 August 2023, we celebrate International Youth Day, centred around the theme "Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World." Given our world's current state of change, it's essential to equip young individuals with the necessary skills to build a sustainable future for everyone, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the Africa Matters Ambassadors Program, we actively promote SDGs 1, 4, 8, and 10 through our initiatives, learning opportunities, and community-oriented approach. We prioritise the development of transferable and transformative skills among youth to tackle social challenges in this age of transition and create a society where no one is left behind.
In our mission to continue advancing youth skills and leadership development across the continent, this report shares updates on the program to date, including participant updates and progress within program components.
AMAP Updates (April - July 2023)
Our 2023-24 Ambassador cohort has been diligently participating in program activities, from enthusiastically interacting with module content to participating in social media campaigns for the organisation and flying the program/organisational flag high within their personal capacity. We have had to sadly bid farewell to 4 Ambassadors due to various circumstances and to date, we now have 16 Ambassadors active within the program. The current country distribution of Ambassadors are as follows: Botswana (1), Ghana (2), Kenya (2) Nigeria (3), Sierra Leone (2), Tanzania (1), South Africa (2), Uganda (2) and Zimbabwe (1).
We have successfully conducted 8 module sessions, each one building on various areas of their personal, professional and leadership development. Our list of completed module sessions can be seen below:
*Reminder: Our modules are broken down into four (4) thematic areas, namely ‘Know Yourself’, ‘Nurture Your Potential’, ‘Understand Your Community’ and ‘Take Up Space’. Kindly refer to our GlobalGiving March 2023 Report for more information regarding these thematic areas
‘Know Yourself’ module:
‘Nurture Your Potential’ modules:
‘Understand Your Community’ modules:
Session updates can be found on our social media platforms.
In other module updates, our program team has been working behind the scenes to refine our module offerings, undergoing the major task of curriculum revision and re-development. We have been attending curriculum design training sessions hosted by experienced internal AMI members as a way to strengthen the delivery and curation of crucial development topics while maintaining a fresh look and feel to modules.
We look forward to continuing this process of learning, implementation and reflection in not only our remaining modules for the program cycle but for the purpose of creating competitive and cutting edge resources for African youth development.
The AMI Mentorship component allows our Ambassadors the opportunity to connect with industry leaders to enhance their professional capacities to tackle continental issues with the confidence and intelligence of a young African leader with a supportive network of professionals at their disposal.
After an intense mentorship recruitment process, we collaborated with our sister AMI flagship program; the ShE is Empowered Program, to coordinate the mentorship matching process and match mentors with more than one (1) mentee across both flagship programs. Together, we are happy to announce that we have matched all AMAP Ambassadors with an eligible mentor. As of this report, we have started the onboarding process, with mentorship pairs confirming their matches through introductory calls and signing program agreement forms.
Our next step is to host an AMI Mentor Meet & Greet session (Date TBC), to welcome all mentors to the program and allow for a platform for them to engage and learn more about the AMI program teams coordinating this process.
The AMAP Community Engagement Project component is one that allows Ambassadors the platform to create and implement community-based projects that tackle unique social issues within their communities to drive forward locally-led and youth-driven initiatives that contribute to regional economic and social development across the continent.
Our Ambassadors have been working on conceptualising and planning for the community engagement projects within their personal capacities since the program commenced. In June, we began holding one-on-one consultations with Ambassadors to provide individualised guidance to them as they work to not only implement an element of their program during the final quarter of the program but also construct a sustainable project that lasts beyond their completion of the program.
We are revising the frequency of engagement with Ambassadors as we get closer to the proposed implementation period (October 2023 - January/Feb 2024) and to ensure that they have systems in place to conduct their projects successfully.
Additional Updates
The AMAP and ShE teams have been planning an Alumni Meet & Greet, inviting both AMAP and ShE alumni to not only reconnect with the program teams but to initiate the process of co-creating an efficient Alumni network that caters to their needs after they graduate from our programs and supports them in being representatives of the program and organisation in their personal capacities. The logistics for this event are still being confirmed.
Africa Matters Initiative participated in the GlobalGiving Bonus July Campaign, where, for one day only, all donations of $100 and more were matched by GlobalGiving. Through the collaborative efforts of the AMI Media and Fundraising teams, we received donations that GlobalGiving matched! We are very happy that the reach of our fundraising efforts was felt. Thank you for your continuous support, we ask that you continue to support us by sharing our program with your network..
Upcoming activities
Upcoming activities for our program include:
Closing Remarks
We are immensely grateful to all supporters of AMI, and especially of our program, who have contributed to any and all success of our program. We have had a rewarding half to our 2023-24 program cycle, and with more changes up ahead, we are happy to know that we have the avid support of many who believe in investing in African youth and their personal, professional and leadership development. It is this belief that inspires us to continue to grow and succeed, enabling us to work alongside African youth in their journeys to create tangible and transformative change where they are.
You can continue to contribute to this journey by donating to our program via GlobalGiving or by reaching out to us for potential partnership and sponsorship opportunities. Your support will assist us in
If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to connect with us, please feel free to contact us at amap@africamattersinitiative.com
And as always, We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!
Yours in African youth development,
The Africa Matters Ambassadors Program Team
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
