Funded by the UNDP (2016-2018) and the Danish Civil Society for Development Fund from 2019 onwards, the SDG Youth Action Campaign has a three-fold objective: to raise the profile of youth as equal and competent development partners able to contribute meaningfully towards achieving the SDGs at all levels; to build consensus among a wide range of stakeholders on the importance of engaging youth as key actors in the development process; and to provide improved leadership, technical and operational capacity for youth engagement in local and national sustainable development efforts.

Through the SDG Youth Action Campaign, YOTA has created a network of 45 SDG Youth Clubs in senior high schools across the country, altogether reaching over 2,000 members who are learning, sharing, and taking action on the SDGs weekly. The project’s SDG Youth Essay Competition has undoubtedly resonated well with the youth, attracting 500+ entries across participating schools in 2017 and 700+ in 2019 – essays that highlighted youth-led community solutions for achieving the SDGs.

YOTA has also developed a Youth Action Guide for the SDGs, and a Toolkit for Youth-Led Accountability Action both of which have become important tools for youth action at the local level. Being a national project, the SDG Youth Action Campaign targets young people under the age of 35 in every region and every district.

By 2022, Campaign activities reached more than 500,000 youth through social media, local radio, and community events. Beyond that, we are continuously undertaking organisational capacity assessments of youth-led organisations, running SDG Youth Academies, hosting SDG Youth Action Conferences, training and deploying SDG Young Reporters and engaging with the wider SDG action community at all levels.