Youth Talks: Sub-Saharan African Youths Aspire to Make Something of Their Lives

Unveiling the hopes and aspirations of a generation, the groundbreaking Youth Talks report has shed light on the needs and desires of young people worldwide. This landmark study, drawing upon the voices of over 45,000 individuals aged 15-29 hailing from 212 diverse nations and territories, has addressed the critical question: what do they need to find purpose, live in harmony, and collectively tackle the challenges of our times? 

In this conversation with Marine Hadengue, the driving force behind Youth Talks, we embark on a deeper exploration of the report’s rich, impactful, and actionable insights. Precious Ugwuzor brings excerpts 

Can you provide a brief overview of the Youth Talks initiative and its mission?

Youth Talks is the largest youth consultation ever conducted worldwide. Addressed to any young people (15 – 29 years old) regardless of their geographical or social origins, it uses open-ended questions and state-of-the-art AI technologies to gather how today’s youth view the future and the skills they will need to shape it and flourish in it. It is a safe space of expression for young people to share their dreams, ideas, aspirations, and concerns about the future, without any form of censorship. Youth Talks aspires to be an essential conduit between what young people want and actionable societal change. Youth Talks’ first edition, led from October 2022 to May 2023, was very successful as we were able to gather 1,000,000 ideas from 45,000 young people across 212 countries and territories.

What inspired the Higher Education for Good Foundation to launch Youth Talks, and how does it align with the foundation’s broader goals?

The Higher Education for Good Foundation (HE4G) emerged from an observation: today’s higher education no longer equips young people to meet the challenges of our time:  growing inequalities, climate change, biodiversity losses, sanitary crisis, energy crisis, A.I. revolution, to name but a few.

 HE4G aims to address this gap by supporting educational institutions through Youth Talks, an initiative that collects insights from young people to reshape curricula and meet the demands of the 21st century. Beyond education, Youth Talks has evolved into a catalyst for societal change, advocating for youth voices to influence policymakers at all levels. 

HE4G intends to collaborate closely with decision-makers to ensure that the needs and perspectives of young individuals are considered in shaping policies and decisions across society.

Youth Talks conducted the world’s largest open youth consultation. Could you elaborate on the methodology used for this consultation and the challenges faced in gathering data from over 45,000 participants across 212 countries and territories?

One of the pillars of Youth Talks is scientific precision. Therefore, we have built our entire methodology in collaboration with a scientific committee composed of experts from the research community. 

The two crucial aspects of our methodology are the use of open-ended questions, which have provided young people an incredibly free space for expression without imposing a specific mindset on them, and the utilization of cutting-edge AI technology to gather and analyze a vast amount of data. 

As an international consultation, we faced numerous challenges. The first was to create a consultation that would allow every young person to participate, regardless of their social or geographical environment. This inclusivity is a core principle of Youth Talks. To counteract this initial challenge, we decided to offer the consultation in 6 languages to enable as many young people as possible to respond in their native language.

 Secondly, we allowed young people to express themselves in writing as well as through voice recordings and the sharing of photos. Our goal was to enable everyone to find the format of contribution that suited them best. Finally, we established a network of ambassadors whose mission was to help us overcome the digital divide in certain regions by reaching out to communities to collect responses.

The second challenge we faced was gaining recognition. As a brand-new foundation with an entirely new project, we had few established footholds to rely on. Social media and advertising were valuable assets, but it was the presence and support of our numerous partners that made the difference. Today, we have gathered around us nearly 60 partners: business schools, youth institutions, higher education institutions, media, and international organizations. We even have the support of major international institutions such as Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) – a UN initiative – and the Club of Rome, convinced of the impact of our project for the greater good.

According to the report, Youth Talks leveraged state-of-the-art artificial intelligence. How was AI employed in the initiative, and how does it contribute to gaining insights from the global youth population?

Youth Talks uses cutting-edge AI technologies to digest the information collected and produce concise, relevant deliverables adapted for different stakeholders, including educational institutions, youth organizations, governments, companies, the media or the general public. The AI used in the Youth Talks initiative primarily involves the semantic clustering algorithm on Bluenove’s Assembl platform. Additionally, AWS Transcribe was used for converting audio contributions to text, and Google Translate was employed for translating responses into English.

The report highlights specific concerns raised by Nigerian participants, such as individualism, the educational system, political issues, discrimination, and empowerment. How does Youth Talks plan to address and amplify these concerns at both local and global levels?

Youth Talks’ mission is to bring the voices of the world’s youth to the attention of organizations and decision-makers and to influence their actions to better meet the needs and aspirations of young people. Our main actions will be to transform all the insights of our consultations into actionable proposals to guide decision-makers in changing society. 

Depending on the continents, regions, countries, communities, or socio-economic categories they belong to, young people have different expectations, ambitions, and needs. Thus, it’s crucial to tailor our proposals to suit both local and global contexts, aligning with the specific stakeholders we aim to engage. 

The outcomes of our consultation will be disseminated through various means, including an online platform customized to match the realities of our target stakeholders: proposing educational institution program content, providing datasets for academic researchers, delivering reports for companies, presenting white papers for governments, or organizing art exhibitions for the general public.

How do you imagine Nigerian leaders and organisations incorporating the insights from Youth Talks into their decision-making processes?

Firstly, it is essential to delve into our results and comprehend the viewpoints, aspirations, and concerns expressed by young Nigerians regarding their vision of the future. Understanding their insights will be a crucial initial step.

Within the Youth Talks project, a pivotal aspect involves translating these insights into actionable proposals aimed at guiding governments and institutions in their decision-making processes. These proposals will be diverse and customized according to the specific needs of the organizations we engage with. They will serve as resources accessible to political entities and governments. We hope that stakeholders in Nigeria will embrace and take ownership of this work.

The significant engagement of African youth, with over 1229 participants and 13051 contributions, as well as approximately 50 active ambassadors, demonstrates their keenness to express themselves and actively engage in global decision-making. This underscores the significance of providing a platform for the younger generation in this region to voice their opinions and contribute to addressing the challenges they encounter. This approach ensures that their distinct perspectives are taken into account when formulating policies and initiatives that affect their future and the broader world.

Could you share specific examples of how Youth Talks plans to evolve its mission from giving youth a platform to raising their issues to giving them a seat at the table?

We began by aiming to give voice to the youth to transform higher education. Very quickly, the project transcended its initial purpose, and now, we aspire for Youth Talks to become the leading platform for the voices of youth worldwide. 

We aspire for Youth Talks to exert a wide-ranging influence across all facets of society, empowering the youth in various spheres of their lives. Our ambition is to leverage a series of deliverables derived from our findings, guiding and informing numerous stakeholders in their decision-making processes concerning the expectations and requirements of the youth : politics, governments, international and local institutions, corporate world… 

Furthermore, we are actively working on youth empowerment. Our goal is to support and guide the young members of the Youth Talks community towards a stronger and more pronounced civic engagement. Our network of ambassadors, which currently includes 2,300 young individuals, serves as a perfect example. Beyond relying on them to gather responses for our consultation, we have supported, trained, and guided them in their roles as ambassadors to help them develop skills beneficial for their professional and personal lives. These lessons can be applied in their everyday civic engagement.

Looking ahead, what is the outlook for Youth Talks? How do you anticipate the initiative evolving and making a lasting impact on global youth engagement and societal change in Nigeria?

Youth Talks is a tool for change, destined to become the largest international youth forum. The first edition of Youth Talks provides a rich snapshot of the aspirations, hopes and beliefs of young people around the world. The platform’s ability to enable authentic discussion is key to its success and represents a solid foundation on which to build the next stage.

By 2026, we hope that over a million young people will express their views through the platform, and some 50,000 Ambassadors will take the initiative into their communities.

We want Nigeria to be part of this new phase of Youth Talks. It is so far the most active community of ambassadors we have on the project. We have by our side a large network of young people eager to change the world and be part of solving our collective issues.

There will still be our digital platform but also we want to develop in-person engagement, overseen by various Youth Talks chapters, including Ambassador-led workshops and events organized around themes of local interest identified by the young people themselves. Maybe Nigeria could welcome one of these chapters.

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Youth Talks is a tool for change, destined to become the largest international youth forum…The platform’s ability to enable authentic discussion is key to its success and represents a solid foundation on which to build the next stage