ANNUAL REPORTD E CE MBE R

2 021

Contents
1.0 Executive Summary
2.0 Introduction
2.1 The Foundation
2.2 Subsidiary Platforms
3.0
3.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3

Programmatic Interventions
Climate Agenda
Participation in #GreenGhana Project#Youth-Plant-To-Own-A-Tree Project
YBF In COP26

3.2 Education, Mentorship & Training
3.2.1 Tullow Educate to Innovate with STEM Project3.3 Governance3.3.1 African Youth & Governance Convergence (AYGC)
3.3.2 Youth & Local Governance
3.4 Access To Justice3.4.1 Planned Advocacies for Inclusion
3.4.2 Marginalized Face of COVID-19 Project
4.0 Achievements, Challenges and Way forward
5.0 Conclusion

1.0 Executive Summary
The Youth Bridge Foundation (YBF) is anindependent non-profit organizationcommitted to youth development across thecontinent of Africa and the Diaspora. It strives
to achieve its purpose and mandate throughcutting-edge and evidence based youth
research, sustained advocacy, training andmentorship.
Headquartered in Ghana and accredited with
the UN ECOSOC Special Consultative status
since 2011, YBF is not a membership-basedorganization but works with a network ofyouth across the Continent. The Foundation
currently has Country offices in Zambia andthe USA.
The Foundation’s main mission is to workto equitably harness the potentials of the
youth by equipping them with appropriate
capacity, platforms and resources that shallenhance their socioeconomic and mental
well being and to advocate for inclusion andresponsiveness to youth development needs
and rights by those responsible for upholding
such rights.
This report focuses on the work of YBF Ghanaand for the year under review, our focused on
three (3) main programmatic areas namely:
I. Education, Mentorship & Scholarship
II. GovernanceIII. Access to Justice for youth and PWDs
During the year 2021, YBF worked to enhanceinnovative mediums to harness potentials
of youth through capacity development,
creation of engagement platforms for youthand policy makers as well as advocate foryouth responsive and inclusive policies andprocesses. The Foundation also initiated aprocess to strategically position itself anddrive excellence.

Lack of core funding for the Foundation
remains a major challenge which wasworsened the global shrink in donor
support for Civil Society. The Foundation
is hopeful that sustained visibility andrelevance it couched for itself will bringmore opportunities to strategically secure its
place as the Youth Think-tank in Ghana andAfrica; forging national and continental youth
inclusive development agenda.
The Foundation acknowledges thecollaborative work with Academic Institution
like the GSDI of the University of North

Carolina, Rule of Law Collaborative of the
University of South Carolina, Dalhousie
University-Canada, the Institute of African
University of the Cornell University-USA, state
institutions like the Electoral Commission of
Ghana, Judicial Service of Ghana, Ghana
Education Service (GES), Ghana Broadcasting
Corporation (GBC) and non-state actors
like the Centre for Democratic Development(CDD), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition(GACC) and Parliamentary Network Africa(PNA). We are also excited at our new
partnership with the Centre for Climate
Justice, Glasgow Caledonian University-UK
in positioning youth as drivers of the Climate
Agenda. We remain grateful to Tullow Oil, theOpen Society Foundation (OSF), OSIWA andthe Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ghana
for their support and commitment to Youth
Inclusive Development Agenda.

2.0 Introduction
2.1 The Foundation

Youth Bridge Foundation works to equitably
harness the potentials of the youth byequipping them with appropriate capacity,
platforms and resources that shall enhancetheir socio-economic and mental wellbeing; and to advocate for inclusion andresponsiveness to youth developmental
needs and rights by those responsible for
upholding such rights.
The Foundation initiated a Change Processthat would strengthen its culture of excellence
and also shape its strategic focus andprograms from 2022-2026.

Accredited with the UN ECOSOC Special
Consultative status since 2011, we havetranscended different political administrationin Ghana. With a 15+1-years of sustained
youth engagement across Africa & theDiaspora, we boost of global alliances andnetwork with a convening power.

Our unique approaches remain:
I. Youth Segmentation – Youth not seen
as a homogeneous group
II. Evidence-Based Programming
III. Cascade of Mentorship
IV. Capacity Development
V. Platforms for youth engagement
VI. Leadership and Grooming advisory roleand to serve as mentors to the youth.
Our operational definition of youth is guided
by African Youth Charter’s definition of ages
15 to 35 years. However, we are conscious torecognize and support the transition of theage range of 12 to 14 years; early engagement
is needed.
In appreciation of the Ghanaian and African
context, the Foundation considers youth
as a heterogeneous group with varying
backgrounds or demographics and resultant

varying aspirations; and thus defines ‘youth’
based on varying criteria such as age,educational level, geographical settlement,social or economic status and biology.

2.2 Subsidiary Platforms

African Youth and Governance Convergence(AYGC)The AYGC is our flagship leadershipgrooming program since 2009 to:
I. Mobilize and create a network/communityof youth from Africa and the Diaspora;
II. Harness their potential through capacity
development and exposure;III. Forge networks and create platforms
for engaging policy makers and duty
bearers and;IV. Analyse continental policies
and recommend youth responsivealternative for the construction of a safeand prosperous Continent.
The AYGC was informed by the concernthat young Africans who should give
momentum to the continent’s transformation
are largely alienated and marginalized; due
to low understanding of the issues, lack ofconfidence to engage policy makers andthe sense of intimidation resulting from thepower distance between the elderly/leadersand subordinates as enshrined in African
societal norms and values. As a Continental
platform, it adopts annual themes thathint on the prime objective of harnessing
Africa’s demographic dividends and broader
inclusiveness in Africa’s development anddemocratic agenda.
The AYGC has over the past 10+3 years
created and coordinated a network ofyouth drawn from about forty-two (42)African countries and Diaspora for crossborder exchanges, provided professionalcoaching for the analysis of specific stateand continental policies and instruments,
brainstormed on global best practices torecommend youth-responsive alternatives

for the Continent. Sustained over a periodof 13 years, annual alumni have bonded andmade new connections to influence national& continental policies. Potentials of youth
have been harnessed to take up roles incorporate, private and leadership spaces
and key leadership positions.

Youth Bridge Research Institute (YBRI)The YBRI is a subsidiary organization of theYouth Bridge Foundation (YBF), set up to interalia, conduct research that characterizes
the situation of the youth in Africa and theDiaspora, identifies gaps and opportunities
to strengthen youth development throughpractice and policy. YBRI undertakes evidence
based academic research on young people
in Africa and the Diaspora to strengthen YBF’sevidence based advocacy and engagementswith governments and policy makers across
Africa and the Diaspora.

Youth Bridge Builders (YBB) & Youth
Bridge Alliance (YBA)The Youth Bridge Builders (YBB) is a loose
network of youth in the tertiary schools acrossGhana. While these youth students complete
their tertiary education, they are graduatedinto the Youth Bridge Alliance (YBA); alsoa lose network of all previous YBB members,
voluntary independent youth-focusedorganizations and individuals working
together to promote youth development
in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

Youth Bridge Education and Mentorship
Scheme (YBEMS)
The YBEMS focuses on education support andmentoring for youth in Ghana. This support isin the form of education support fund, after
school support service including exposure
training for students and refresher training forteachers. Mentoring / coaching, internships,
job placements and entrepreneurshiptraining will also feature prominently in thisscheme to promote youth employment.

Youth Bridge Multimedia

Youth Bridge Multimedia is a registeredsubsidiary of YBF and consists of TV andRadio. It is a youth focused channel thatseeks to impact the youth for development
through information sharing, education andentertainment. It also seeks to create spaces
for the youth to evolve, engage and entertain
themselves.

3.0 ProgrammaticInterventions
3.1 Climate Agenda
The Foundation’s Climate Agenda broadly
seeks to promote and lead a youth inclusive
climate agenda in Ghana. It is envisaged tocompliment government’s effort to address
climate change through nature based
mitigation and adaptation. Specific actions
were initiated toI. Promote youth effective participation
II. Position youth as agents of change
and ambassadors
III. Advocate for equitable access,responsive, accountable and transparent
governance in the Natural Resourceand Environmental sector in Ghana.
Specific interventions undertaken included:

3.1.1 Participation in #GreenGhana
Project
The Foundation joined the government’s#GreenGhana Day on June 11 to mobilize
youth to support the initiative to save the
Climate. We mobilized youth in Greater
Accra, Eastern, Western and Northern regionsof Ghana from 8 basic schools. We had
media engagements prior and during theday, created awareness on the role of youth
in sustaining the Campaign, planted 230
seedlings and shared practical tree planting
and caring tips to the youth.

3.1.2 #Youth-Plant-To-Own-A-Tree
Project

Anchored on our belief that education andawareness raising are key to climate change
mitigation, adaptation and impact, we
renewed our commitment to compliment
government efforts through initiating theYouth #Plant-To-Own-A-Tree project. With
the successes and enthusiasm by the youth,
this was conceptualized in July 2021.

With the youth constituting about 70% of
the Ghanaian population, its imperative
to harness their potentials to support any
national and global agenda. This Project is along term one intended to:
I. Mobilize 1.2million youth (15-35years)
across Ghana to plant 1.2million trees
to compliment government’s efforts
within a year
II. Sustain momentum of youth to plant
and replant trees after #GreenGhanaDay
on June 11
Activities undertaken included the global
Launch a COP 26 (Glasgow, UK), visits toall planted seedlings sites and roll out of
a 10-Days Campaign from December 8 to
December 22 to mobilize youth and offer tips
to care and own the planted seedlings.

3.1.3 YBF In COP26
YBF participated in COP 26 in Glasgow tolearn and share with the world’s Climate
Champions. Networks and partnerships
were forged, best global and YBF exposed
to other youth oriented Climate Champions
to expand our work in positioning youth
as drivers of solutions to Climate Change.
We strengthened our relationship with theEnvironmental protection Agency and forgednew ones with international institutions like
Nature for Climate, Worldwide Fund for Nature
Africa, Centre for Climate Justice.

3.2 Education,
Mentorship & Training
YBF recognises education as a criticaldevelopment tool in developing the humancapital of every Country; and key to thisis the progression from one stage to theother. The Foundation thus advocate for an
educational system that is relevant to theneeds of youth, potential employers, nationand global trends; and identify, inform as wellas help increase access to quality training
opportunities by the youth in the areas
relevant to national and global marketplacethrough direct program implementation.

3.2.1 Tullow Oil Ghana Project( Educate To Innovate WithSTEM )

Tullow Oil Ghana continues to support theFoundation since 2017 to implement thisProject for students in fishing communities
within the 6 Coastal District of the Westernregion. The Project scope has been expandedfrom 21 to 25 Junior High Schools and 10 to
11 Senior High Schools in the Project areas.
Students and teachers remain the primary
beneficiaries of the Project with parents/
guardians as secondary. Our approaches
have been:
I. Using radio to offer extra learning support
to students in Maths and Science
II. Providing extra learning support throughhub-based and mobile STEM Clinics,
III. Employing a cascade of mentorshipapproach to groom and offer counsellingin career to students
IV. Rolling out refresher courses for teachers
to address competency gaps with special
engagements with parents and guardians
Project has recorded progression from Basic
to Secondary and Secondary to Tertiary
educational levels since 2017 through theTracer program.

3.3 GovernanceAnchored on the belief that young people
must partake in decision making; and inparticular on matters directly affecting
their interest and wellbeing, we renewed
our commitment to advocate for a culturethat acknowledges the zeal and potentialof young people and allows their effective
representation and participation at all levelsof governance.
YBF has enhanced the capacities of youth
and youth with disabilities on youth inclusive
development agenda. Specific projects
undertaken under this broad area include:

3.3.1 African Youth & Governance
Convergence (AYGC)

Commending all the youth-led initiatives
to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on
economic and social lives in Africa, thevirtual 2021 Convergence theme: “Forging A
Connected African and Diaspora Youth Front
In The COVID-19 Recovery Agenda”, hinted on
the need and value for building alliance andsolidarity among African youth within Africa
and the Diaspora for a sustainable recovery.
Guided by professional coaches, youth
delegates deliberated on the need for Africa’s
COVID-19 Recovery Agenda to be fosteredby a united African youth front beyond
borders. Youth delegates in their Committees
researched and presented Proposals to solve
one critical problem in the sector. There were
simultaneous translation in English-FrenchPortuguese to facilitate the participation ofyouth from Anglophone, Francophone andLusophone Africa.

Outcomes

I. Eight sector specific proposals
developed to shape Africa’s youth
development agenda

Section BreakII. Creation of a Continental Platformof youth from about 45 African Countries
and the Diaspora (Francophone, Lusophone& Anglophone)III. An agenda for recognition of Lusophone
African youth in the Africa Youth
Development enhanced

3.3.2 Open Society Foundation(OSF) Funded Project: Empower
Beyond Borders
The “Empower Beyond Borders: Promoting
Youth Inclusive Democracies In Africa”
Project remained a critical component of
the Foundation’s journey in 2021. Virtual andphysical activities targeted at Lusophone
African youth were undertaken to build
capacities of Lusophone youth to engage in
the African democratic processes. Certain
critical partnerships were established with key
actors in Lusophone Africa to advance thisagenda.

3.3.3 Czech Embassy Funded
Project –Youth & Local
GovernanceAcknowledging the challenge ofincompetency of the youth as a result of
low understanding of the issues, lack ofconfidence to engage policy makers andlimited platforms for engagement, YBF withsupport from the Czech Embassy undertook
this project to contribute to the meaningful
participation of youth in District planning,budgeting and decision-making processes.
Activities included Capacity building
workshop for youth groups on Training ofTrainers basis, Orientation and Education
tour Half Day to the Nsawam Adoagyiri
Metropolitan and a coordinated advocacy
and awareness campaign on the role andvalue of youth in district and budgeting
processes.

The project outcomes included:
I. Local governance architecture demystified
for youth to understand and appreciatedby youth,
II. Capacities developed for meaningful
engagements and participation
III. Confidence of youth built to engage
local government officials.
IV. The local government officials
had a useful channel to communicate
to the youth.

3.4 Access to JusticeThe relevance of Access to Justice as thethread that runs through all the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and a catalyst
for achieving SDGs consciously informed our
advocacy for state and non-state actors
to respond to the communication needs ofthe Deaf and those hard of hearing. Under
the year under review, activities centeredaround advocating for national processes
and communication accessible to the deaf
and those hard of hearing through theprovision of sign language interpretation innational events like the COVID-19 national
updates and the 2020 Election Petition. These
advocacies were sustained from the OSIWA
funded project from 2017.

3.4.1 Planned Advocacy for
Inclusion YBF provided sign
language interpreters
YBF provided sign language interpreters
during the 2020 Election Petition in theSupreme Court of Ghana. This ensured
that the communication need of the Deaf
and those hard of hearing was met during
the court proceedings and forge strong
partnerships with the Supreme Court and the
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).

We are still committed to our vision and goals to ensure that potential of youth isharnessed to ensure their effective participation and representation in governanceprocesses.

3.4.2 OSIWA Funded Project –Marginalized Face of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic was rightly predicted
to have significant impacts on various
sectors and the populations most at risk arethose that: depend heavily on the informal
economy; have inadequate access tosocial services or political influence; have
limited capacities and opportunities to copeand adapt and; limited or no access totechnologies.
Through the support of the Open Society
Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), YBF initiateda project to capture in a compelling drama,
the impact of COVID-19 on the vulnerable,
explore the existing systems and whatrights are available to be accessed orequitable COVID-19 recovery. The Project has
undertaken a Field study to ascertain lived
experiences of youth and young visually
impaired and hearing impaired.

4.0 Achievements,
Challenges and Way
forward
4.1 Achievements

I. Networks & Partnerships
The Foundation is proud to have forgedstronger and new relationships throughpartnerships with the Judicial Service, GBC,
Climate, Phet Foundation, Centre for Climate
Justice, Glasgow Caledonian university,
UK and strengthened the collaborative
efforts with existing ones like Ghana AntiCorruption Coalition (GACC) and the Centre
for Democratic Development (CDD). The Ruleof Law Collaborative of the University of South
Carolina, Dalhousie University-Canada, theInstitute of African University of the Cornell
University-USA remain our technical partners.
II. The Foundation stayed relevant within the
advocacy space in Ghana and Africa throughevidence based advocacies despite limited
funding. We made sure our voices were heard
on critical national issues of concern to youthand persons with disability in Ghana.

Challenges & Way Forward
The major challenge remains core fundingthat affected most of our engagements with
our youth constituent. We are hopeful with
the number of reforms from the strategicplanning that began this year, the Foundation
can develop its culture of excellence tomaintain relations and forge newer relevant
ones as collateral for funding to advanceyouth inclusive and responsive development
agenda in Ghana, Africa and the Diaspora.
We remain committed to our vision and goals
to ensure that potential of youth is harnessed
to ensure their effective participation andrepresentation in governance processes

5.0 Conclusion
The Foundation wishes to express gratitude
to its funders, partners/collaboratorsand constituents for their support andparticipation in its activities. YBF is particularly
grateful to Tullow Oil Ghana, the Open Society
Foundation (OSF), Open Society Initiative
for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Embassy of
the Czech Republic in Ghana for providing
vital project funding at such a crucial timein the year. We also appreciate the youth for
exhibiting the needed interest to be involvedin the development of an inclusive Youth
Africa Development Agenda.
The YBF Board remains grateful to the staff,
volunteers and pool of experts working
together to advance a responsive andinclusive youth development agenda beyond
2021.

ACCREDITATION

Bridging Gaps for Positive Development

HEAD OFFICE (GHANA)
P.O. BOX CT 5543, Cantonments, Accra - Ghana
14 Nuumo Kwei Goozi Street, Adjiringanor - Accra
GD-166-1621+233 30 293 6326 / +233 20 822 6315
www.youthbridgefoundation.org
programs@youthbridgefoundation.org
youthbridge2
youthbridgefoundation
AYGConvergence
African Youth and Governance Convergence
NORTHERN ZONAL OFFICE (GHANA)
Deha Street, Off Zo-Simli Roundabout
Plot No: 114, Kaladan Residential Area,
Tamale, Northern Region
NT-0051-2074+233 37 209 4204 / +233 20 807 4886
SOUTHERN ZONAL OFFICE (GHANA)
AN 03/05 Anibre Street
Agona Nkwanta
Western Region+233 31 229 2765/+233 50 916 7607

SOUTHERN AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE(ZAMBIA)
Plot 25539, Woodlands Extention
P. O. Box 30267 Lusaka, Zambia+260 96 610 2828
ybfzambia@youthbridgefoundation.org
www.youthbridgefoundation.org

NIGERIA COORDINATING OFFICE
Youth Bridge Foundation
c/o Youth Development Centre
Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library)
Presidential Boulevard, Oke-Mosan Abeokuta, Nigeria+234-(802)7545142
ybf-ng@youthbridgefoundation.org