Our Solution to Changing the System of Youth Education and Upbringing in Sub-Saharan Africa
This is one of the 2020 CEF Whitepapers. For more information on the Christian Economic Forum, please visit their website here.
The Big Problem
Imagine the impact of seeing this young girl the way God sees her. Imagine her believing she is deeply loved and that her life has purpose and equal value to you and me. Like my children and yours – there is gold inside her.
More than half of young people in Sub-Saharan Africa, who make up the largest part of the population, are born into poverty, growing up in communities that visibly offer no hope, with few if any ethical role-models and mentors. They often do not believe that they have purpose, potential nor equal value to others.
If we are to unlock the social, economic and spiritual potential of the next generation in Africa, our solution must address the root issues that drive the system of how young people see themselves, how they are raised, and the conditions under which they are educated.
In 1 Chronicles 28, David had a dream and mentored his son Solomon into believing that he had what it took to fulfill that dream (1 Chronicles 28:20). David died before seeing these plans completed; however, both David and Solomon were critical to God’s generational kingdom design.
There is a pattern in the Bible of wise people raising up and investing in youth to take over and go further than those before them. Scripture shows us the consequences when this is ignored. The large-scale effects of character and integrity (righteousness) are clear, as are the consequences of its absence. Solomon penned, “Righteousness exalts a nation…” (Proverbs 14:34).
The system of youth education and upbringing in Sub-Saharan Africa is broken. If this problem is not solved, there are three major consequences that will continue to undermine the hope for a flourishing African future.
The Consequence of Youth Unemployment and Unemployability
Youth up to the age 25 make up at least 50% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa, the country where I was born, is one of the most unequal countries on earth. Pre-COVID-19, unemployment in South Africa was calculated at 55,2%, with young people having very little prospect of meaningful work in their lifetime.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa, points out however that the implications of the lockdowns and rising infections and death rates have complex consequences on the living conditions of majority of Africans. Regardless of complete compliance with government lockdown, each day that the already challenged economic activity of African countries is impaired through restrictions, millions of people will continue to face the impact of less income, lost jobs and little stimulus or support packages available from the state or civil society.
The Consequence of Unbroken Poverty Cycles and Youth Unrest
A 2018 research paper from the South African Institute of International Affairs, commenting on the continental population explosion in the continent of Africa, stated: “With the correct investments in young people and by developing the right infrastructure, we have the opportunity to harness this demographic and create a youth dividend, which will accelerate economic growth. If we fail to do so, Africa will face an unprecedented youth burden, exacerbating unemployment, social unrest and dependency on government hand-outs”.
As the COVID-19 crisis begins to unfold in Africa, lack of financial and emotional support will only result in higher levels of ever-increasing personal needs, leading to a maelstrom of psycho-social and economic problems that will further damage the stability of our already fragile African societies. This will escalate the long-term reparation costs and conditions for national recoveries.
The Consequence of Endemic Youth Risk Behaviour – An Unsustainable Health and Education Burden
Being in high school as an adolescent is the exception, not the norm on our continent. Sixty-one percent of teenagers in Sub-Saharan Africa are not at high school and 62% of children in South Africa do not have any biological father in their lives.
Most young people in the region not only live with daily economic uncertainty but face huge peer pressure to indulge in taking substances, engage in risky relationships causing them to risk teenage pregnancy, drop out of school, join a gang for acceptance, or engage in transactional sex to put food on the table for their younger brothers and sisters.
Our Solution
History and Purpose of gold Youth Development Agency (“gold”)
gold-youth was founded in 2004 as a Christ-centred response to a broken world in need of reconciliation and restoration. I remain consumed by a vision of young Africans living purpose-filled lives and leading Africa towards social, economic and spiritual flourishing. The name “gold” means “generation of leaders discovered”.
The gold vision was birthed from my firm conviction that God has called us to be concerned with the temporal and eternal conditions of the youth we serve. Our faith not only saves us from our separation from God, but also from injustice, oppression, captivity, violence and fear that is crippling our continent. If we want to see a nation reborn then we must invest in our youth and children and bring discipleship and evidence-based solutions to the challenges they face.
Since we started, we have set out to re-frame the narrative around the youth bulge crisis at the bottom of the pyramid, to seeing youth as Africa’s greatest resource, a kingdom dividend to be refined, forged and leveraged. We see gold in every young person, no matter what their circumstances.
Jesus said we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) and the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). gold has taken on this mandate as we move youth into knowing their purpose, their value, creating ripples of change in character and identity; salt and light in each one joining together and this momentum tackling the evident issues of social behaviour change, education and unemployment. As Jesus did, we focus on the one, and see impact on many. For over 15 years we have been building a lasting systemic solution that changes generations, one person, one family and one community at a time.
We believe that that the gospel must be integrated with wisdom into every social system for us to see new flourishing in Africa. In response to that conviction, as a hybrid social enterprise gold positions itself as a Good Samaritan on the road to Jericho. We demonstrate love for our neighbors through social, spiritual and economic community transformation, reaching the poorest of the poor (Mark 12:31a).
Peer Education Methodology and Strategic Approach
Our experience shows us that people don’t change with information alone; they change when others around them change. Personal change leads to group change, which leads to community change. At the heart of the gold methodology is the belief that the message giver is the strongest message. The gold curricula and evaluation processes have been tested and improved over 15 years and are informed by global and contextual research informing current youth trends and education best practices in the various gold implementation territories.
gold’s primary focus is to scale the methodology of youth peer education where positive peer pressure is structured to bring about sustained community change through an “each-one-reach-one” approach from the ground up. This sustainable change is focused towards influencing the system of youth education and leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa. The proven solution is delivered through two methods: DEEP and WIDE:
We go DEEP by partnering with community-based organizations (which we call Social Franchisees) in implementing our peer education programme in their areas, involving all aspects of the community. We assist with quality assurance and capacity-building services and facilitate regional communities of practice. Teachers, parents, community leaders, faith groups and businesses are supported and trained to create an enabling environment.
We go WIDE by disseminating the solution through a DIY blended product suite named ‘Peer2Peer’, which is supported by gold training and consulting services for a diverse audience of government and community replicators.
Once a gold youth pipeline begins to mature and multiply in a targeted gold community where few, if any economic opportunities exist, micro-economies are researched and supported. By leveraging the years of relational capital and access to gold-activated communities, we are able to tap into the entrepreneurial capabilities and talent cultivated through the gold Youth Peer Education Model.
gold self-employment and micro-business solutions (including food security, household energy, financial inclusion and cooking gas) are essential services in communities during times of COVID-19 and in the months and years to come. We work with established partners that are ready to implement these solutions in communities throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, creating innovative employment solutions and services to gold youth network members and their communities.
Track Record to Date
Over 15 years, we’ve reached over 74,000 young people in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and soon Rwanda too.
There are 17,502 gold Peer Educators, trained and mentored, out in the world.
gold has proudly facilitated a total of 1,043 job placements since 2015.
gold has created 790 three-year Facilitator Internships since starting the programme.
A total of 54,696 Peers and children have been measurably reached by Peer Educators.
Through our interventions we have been able to deliver deep and wide impact amongst our youth networks and the communities they serve. In 2018 and 2019 we have measured a:
49% increase in work readiness and employability
30% increase in school performance and commitment to education
(90% 2019 school leaving pass rate)
44% increase in positive character attributes and purpose-driven interiority
46% decrease in age-appropriate youth risk behaviour
88% increase in awareness of and opportunities in the food system / agriculture
44% increase in leadership and community upliftment
Recent awards include:
2018
Ashoka Globalizer Programme: supporting best practice models for global scale
Impumelelo Social Innovation Awards: systemic collaboration with governments
2019
African Union Innovating African Education Innovator’s Award
HundrED 2020 Global Collection: leading education innovations
2020
ASPI-Re Global Mission Leader Programme: taking proven towards population impact
The Next Steps in Our Journey
Fifteen years on, the gold model is ready to scale across Africa. We are encouraged by the evidence of thousands of changed lives and leaders. We have achieved small-scale policy change and are proud of what we have achieved as a team by God’s grace. Yet, we have only scratched the surface of the each-one-reach-one system change that is needed.
Our goal is to develop ten million youth leaders by 2030 as the critical catalysts who will bring about wider systemic change. Our audacious goal is to develop ten million young African leaders with character and integrity to mobilise their generation with the tools and support to reach their full potential, with measurable results in social behaviour change, education and job creation.
We are committed to sharing the deep and wide gold solution to every school and community in Africa with a desire to give youth the agency to unlock their generation’s potential with purpose. Over the next five years, we aim to grow our enterprise model in at least four African countries through micro-enterprise concepts delivering sustainable essential services to support job creation.
To enable growth, we need to package the best practices of the gold model into a toolkit for anyone, anywhere to use. We have prototyped the platform and are currently busy with the process of zero-rating and repackaging the content for mobile use in areas where data is limited and expensive. Our next priority is to implement it across all our operating countries with all our tools, curricula, processes and an evaluation system to support an agile platform to refine the gold in all the youth of Africa.
Conclusion
The hope for Africa lies in how we invest in its most disenfranchised youth; there is no plan B. In the words of Ezekiel 37:10 in the valley of dry bones, “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army”.