Youth & Community Engagement
Africa is a youthful continent with the majority of the population being youth, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. As such, young people play a key role in Africa’s development and prosperity. This is why creating space and opportunities for young people to dream, innovate and create is central to our work.
Our Innovation Hub, is a specially curated space for thought leadership, artivism, invention, critical conversation, problem solving and much more. We harness the youth demographic dividend by investing in young people across Africa to unleash their potential to drive transformative change in their communities, countries and the world at large.
Our initiatives
UNICEF SBCC
ArtGlo, with support from UNICEF, is implementing community awareness campaigns for a Child Protection project in Blantyre and Lilongwe districts. The project began in September 2022, with workshops and meetings with key district and sub-district structures, in partnership with Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU), World Vision and the respective District Social Welfare offices. The project took a human centered design approach, with its development and execution being led by the community.
We conducted workshops targeting representatives from different community structures including religious leaders, Area Development Committees, TAs, mother groups, lawyers, youth groups, and the police. The aim of the workshops was to facilitate community-led campaigns with the community structures. The children driven campaigns used a wide range of arts approaches such as forum theatre, poetry, music, dance and sports for mass community mobilisation.
In May 2023 Cyclone Freddy hit the Southern region of Malawi. ArtGlo with support from UNICEF supported a back to school campaign in Blantyre and Mulanje. The work included support in the distribution of IEC materials and relief materials on PSEA, GBV & VAC in disaster affected schools and raise awareness on PSEA, GBV & VAC in disaster affected schools. ArtGlo targeted 6 camps (3 in Blantyre and 3 in Mulanje) with messaging on going back to school as well as addressing critical issues on GBV and VAC through participatory approaches. This included conducting Umunthu Circles and drama club performances in the camps to address the issues emerging in camps.
UNICEF Child Protection Campaign
Back to school campaign
Malawi
Zimbabwe
Neotree
Neotree is a specially designed system which uses cutting edge digital technology to track and support the care of neonates. It has been deployed at Kamuzu Central Hospital, KCH (Malawi) and Chinoyi Hospital, CPH (Zimbabwe). Research conducted revealed concerns some mothers/carers felt that healthcare professionals (HCPs) lack sensitivity to patients’ social-cultural beliefs surrounding childbirth, the newborn and challenges using digital health platform. Through partnership between Neotree, ArtGlo, CPH and KCH, we conducted a project to address these concerns, strengthen relationships between service beneficiaries and Health Care Providers (HCP) and bring improvements to Neotree system.
We have worked with 20 mothers from both rural and urban areas, with varying levels of literacy and whose babies had a range of conditions and outcomes, who were admitted at KCH and CPH between December 2020 and July 2021, and 10 from each facility. These mothers received training using participatory arts methods to learn how they can skillfully use methods such as photography, drawing, photo voice, interactive film and videography. They used the skills learned to capture and share their stories and experiences that were showcased at an Exhibition at Kamuzu Central Hospital which involved key hospital personnel and members of local NGOs who work in the sector
In 2024, the initiative has engaged a total of 30 women in Zimbabwe (20) and Malawi (10) in the Neotree Public Patient Involvement (PPI) work for 2024. Our work has been published in an online journal, the 2024 BMC Proceedings, recognizing that creative storytelling, through our participatory approaches, is an effective method to foster dialogue and enable patient-driven quality improvement.
UNESCO Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
ArtGlo has been leading innovative dialogue events in Machinga (2021) and Nkhatabay (2023) districts, exploring Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in partnership with UNESCO and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST). The events gathered students and teachers to share perspectives on CSE, to inform UNESCO’s O3 programme, which supports the delivery of high-quality CSE education in 33 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. We used participatory arts approaches including drama, drawing activities and songs to help create a safe and open space for discussion of taboo topics. Sessions were tailored to students and teachers, with some working separately with the two groups to encourage open expression, and some facilitating dialogue.
In 2021 we worked with 85 students and 14 teachers in Machinga. In 2024, we held the event in two centres in Nkhatabay, engaging a total 170 students and 30 teachers from Mpamba and Bandawe Secondary schools. Through such events we have developed a Report on CSE views of teachers and learners in Malawi and supported the revision of the Malawi Life Skills Education (LSE) curriculum.
Students with Dreams (SWD) Programme
SWD is a youth leadership programme that enables college students to develop innovative projects that address pressing social issues, and provides them with training, mentorship, and seed funding. The first creative leadership programme of its kind for college students in Malawi, SWD inspires young leaders to become agents of change in society by: encouraging critical thinking and creative problem solving; cultivating skills in project design, implementation and management; and fostering inter-disciplinary collaboration and mutual support. To date, we have over 300 Dreamers who have successfully launched over 100 social impact projects.
Policy hackathons
We put together all the relevant players in a sector — young people, policymakers, government technocrats, civil society, community actors etc — into one room to develop policy solutions that address the intersection between climate, economic and gender justice and social inclusion and diversity. Our hackathons allow young people to go beyond dialogue and become involved in the solution creation process.
Creatives/Artist in Residence Program (CARP)
The CARP is for artists and creatives and art organizations/networks. Each year, we recruit a group of artists and creatives into the CARP. The first few months are dedicated to training and skills development and the greater part of the year, fellows are supported to create and run innovative campaigns and projects and supported with ongoing mentorship. The CARP goes beyond what art school teaches by teaching artists and creatives how to bring their creative skills to activism in ways that work.
School of Artivism
The School is for activists, advocacy and broader civil society organizations who are keen to use creative tools and arts to strengthen their advocacy. This 3 – 5 day workshop increases the impact of advocacy and awareness campaigns by teaching participants and organisations how to effectively use culture and creativity to engage and activate new audiences.
Tailored Workshops
We also offer workshops on Human centred design; participatory arts – including theatre for development -; participatory research methodologies and any other areas of interest based on the client’s needs.
Certification
We provide academic courses, in partnership with accredited institutions, which provide much certification to creatives and artists, which they would not normally get in Malawi due to lack of Art Schools. Courses offered are:
- Photography
- Visual Arts
- Graphic Designing
- Theatre for Development
- Human Centered Design
