VOTAY Foundation

VOTAY Foundation is rated 3 out of 5 in the category nonprofit organization management. Read and write reviews about VOTAY Foundation. VOTAY, Voices of the African Youths, is a Pan-African youth advocacy organization that is aimed at stimulating youth-driven, democratic and non-violent due-process reforms all across Africa. VOTAY is offering youths the platform to air their views and opinions on pressing issues affecting the nations of Africa, with a view to achieving concrete policy proposals that will enable the much-needed transformation in the various regions of Africa. The future of Africa lies in the hands of the youth. For the much needed progress and growth in Africa, young people must begin to play very active roles in advancing democratic reforms and lend their voices to the calls for positive social change. Many African youths are already breaking new grounds in entrepreneurship, sports, entertainment and science. But now, more than ever, there is need for meaningful youth participation in politics by not only voting during elections, but more importantly, by participating in governance and decision-making processes. The time has come for youths all across Africa to demand a place on the platform to contribute their ideas and opinions in a meaningful way towards advancing governance, economic reforms, policy making and democratic processes. VOTAY is a Youth Advocacy organization that employs the tools of social media to offer a voice to youths across Africa to air their views and opinions on any breath of issues that affect them either collectively as Africans or in their various nations. The goal of VOTAY is to help initiate tangible policy proposals and reforms all across Africa, driven predominantly by young people, who eventually will be the ones to face the future. As articulated by the Guide to Youth Advocacy by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) of the US Chamber of Commerce, “… protests and other forms of activism are often the main avenue for (youths) expressing their opinions. While such activism can have a sparking effect for discussion around an issue, very rarely does it lead to direct policy response input. In the worst scenarios, over-reliance on protesting can lead to violent responses from authorities and the sidelining of youth actors. If young people around the world want to be heard, they must know how to move from being protesters to becoming reformers.” (Guide to Youth Advocacy, 2015) VOTAY as an organization, is committed to helping raise the next generation of youth reformers in Africa and drivers of policy changes; the kind of pan-African reformation youth movement that won the countries of Africa independence from Europe in the mid-20th century. The only difference today is that our vision is for the educational, political, economic and technological emancipation of African States. Policy advocacy campaigns can be challenging because advocacy takes time and persistent effort. This is why we will employ the social media and other necessary avenues to coordinate committed “youths” from all over Africa who are ready to look beyond their age differences, nationalities and different social and economic backgrounds to buy into the vision of a truly emancipated, prosperous and free Africa, our different views on issues notwithstanding.