ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

A summit to discuss the policies of the National Development Policy framework convenes in Gauteng this week. This is what one NPO would like to see emerge.

n a recent panel discussion held with youth activators from ACTIVATE! Change Drivers, a national NPO focused on empowering the youth of South Africa to create meaningful change in their communities.

The continuing prevalence and global spread of the novel coronavirus, is not only threatening the health of billions across the world; but is also threatening to disrupt human social interaction by radically redefining how human beings create ideas,

How are the youth using their voices under lockdown to amplify current social issues? This was the question posed to a panel of youth by non-profit ACTIVATE! Change Drivers, the largest network of youth in South Africa.

Providing inspiration and hope under lockdown, is what a group of South African youth have done with an online lockdown poetry project, in a series of written and visual presentations shared on YouTube by impassioned young men and women.

Youth non-profit Activate, a leader in transformative youth programmes in South Africa, has issued its annual call for youth to apply to its leadership training and mentoring programmes. This opportunity is free to the youth who qualify.

Inspired by the idea that all South African youth must know about the Constitution and what it means for them.

Young women want to be counted as women leaders in South Africa every day, not just during one month of each year. They want to create safe spaces for themselves and the women coming after them to lead and create impact.

Kim Barlow is the Communications Manager for leading youth development NGO, ACTIVATE!  Change Drivers, one of the largest youth networks in South Africa.

There is not much to celebrate this Women’s Day when women are bearing the brunt of responsibility under lockdown, and their safety and security is threatened: both physically and economically.

"There comes a time in the life of every person when you either succumb or you fight." - George Bizos While many young activists can resonate with this quote, it is not often that one stands up against a system that works for them.

People are so caught up in acquiring new skills under lockdown, or saving their businesses or just surviving, that they are not acknowledging the mental health issues brought about by extended lockdown and isolation in the shadow of this COVID-19 pandemic

Futurists and market researchers are calling this pandemic the ‘great reset’ of our society and an opportunity to reimagine a different world.

Lockdown has forced us to reimagine a world with the coronavirus. It has brought economic challenges and discomfort and saw us divided as a nation. But even as it almost destroyed us, it also brought us together.

With economic disruption worldwide brought on by pandemic lockdowns, the future looks bleak for young job seekers unless a culture of entrepreneurship is encouraged and supported right from high school through to tertiary education.

South African youth believe that endemic corruption in South Africa is stealing their futures and destroying their dreams.

“We are who we’ve been waiting for”. This is the inspirational message on the cover of a book released this month by NGO, ACTIVATE! Change Drivers, to showcase the stories of how the youth stepped up at the time of SA’s greatest need this century.

Zimele Africa, a youth news portal to assist young people with understanding business and preparing them for the workplace, or to start their own businesses as entrepreneurs, has been launched by the ACTIVATE!

A year on after the Covid pandemic reached South African shores, we have yet to see the full impact of Covid lockdowns on South Africans, especially on young people whose lives have largely been paused.

Corruption is the dimmer of hope in South Africa. It is not just the looting of funds; it is in the number of people going to bed without food; it is in the lack of a quality education; it is in the death of children in pit toilets....

Low voter turnout among young people is due to dissatisfaction with institutions of power, not only voter apathy, according to dialogue within the 4,500-strong ACTIVATE! Change Drivers’ youth network.

South Africa urgently needs programmes to address vaccine hesitancy and dispel myths around the COVID-19 vaccines in particular, such as the fear that they will make you seriously ill, disabled or even turn you into a zombie.

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers, an NGO with a youth network 4,500-strong, recently hosted an Imbizo in the Free State with various stakeholders, including Government, focusing on ‘Youth Leadership and Accountability in Gender Based Violence Response’.

It is critically important that the voices of young people are heard in decision-making and policy structures when it comes to dealing effectively with gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in our society, as they are the future leaders of SA.....

"We were expected to destroy one another and ourselves collectively in the worst racial conflagration. Instead we as a people chose the path of negotiation, compromise and peaceful settlement.

The mental wellbeing and resilience of the youth is at the forefront of a national initiative to build capacity and create a network of youth leaders to respond to the needs of young people in their communities.

South Africa is exhausted. With high unemployment and few prospects, the youth are hopeless. Perhaps what we need is to regroup and dare to dream again.

The Men in Black Doeks will be speaking out for change at various events, while wearing their black doeks, to raise awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) on Women’s Day and during Women’s Month this year.

There is no definitive truth about any given situation – more than one truth can exist simultaneously without invalidating the other.

It is worth looking again at the many peaceful forms of protest action available to citizens, says Ashley Roman, Programme Research and Partnership Manager, ACTIVATE! Change Drivers, after South Africa was gripped by violent unrest recently.

A youth activist has penned an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling for competent and experienced civil society members to be included in the Cabinet.

While the shadow of the civil unrest in South Africa will impact the economy and business confidence for some time to come, what of the healing that needs to take place and societal interventions at a grassroots level to ensure it never happens again?

With local government elections looming next month, political education is key to building a South Africa which serves all its citizens, especially the poor and marginalised.

Entrepreneurship can be quite taxing and, literally, depressing. It's an isolated journey that one has to walk through to fully understand.

Among the many lessons that the pandemic has taught us as a country and one of the common challenges that has arisen, is adapting to the relatively unfamiliar online working space.

Peer networks with group activities play a strong role in alleviating depression in young men, a research study with a major youth network in South Africa has found.

Why would young people vote for a system they do not fully understand and where they believe their vote does not make a difference?

A group of young social activists, who not only voted in the recent local government elections, but also stood as councillors and won a seat.....

Encouraging and providing opportunities for the youth to exercise their rights regarding climate change issues, comes down to education.

Providing the youth with the necessary civic and leadership skills to engage government structures to drive meaningful change within their communities, was the subject of a recent workshop hosted by ACTIVATE! Change Drivers and the United Nations.

by Baby Obuhle Sihu, Youth Activist, ACTIVATE! Change Drivers Street entrepreneurship eases the burden of unemployment in countries across Africa, and should be encouraged by government and society.

The rise of Al, Is the Terminator coming for our jobs?

The Beginning of an Era: How youth network uses collaborative youth efforts, to uplift young people in South Africa

Many people were forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to adapt to new norms. While the pandemic lead to an improvement in some skills, it also took away the human connection.

I dreamt I was flying, surrounded by unicorns and floating words around my crown. I was soaring through the sky, feeling free and weightless.