Using ICTs to Facilitate North-South Youth Engagement

The use of ICTs to facilitate
engagement and active
citizenship between young
people in the Global North
and Global South
Literature review and analysis

Submitted to Oxfam Australia
15 August 2014
Submitted by
Daniella Ben-Attar
Consultant
Daniella.benattar@gmail.com
www.daniella.ben-attar.com
Photo: David Levene/Oxfam
Covor photo: Sven Torfinn/Oxfam

1LITERATURE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements 2
Executive summary 3
Introduction 4
Methodological approach 7
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS............................................................................................................................................ 7
FOCUS OF CASES....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Context: youth engagement and ICTs 8
YOUTH ICT TRENDS.................................................................................................................................................... 8
NARROWBAND MOBILE FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP.......................................................................................................... 9
North–South youth engagement: trends and debates in the literature 10
BALANCING DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION WITH DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES....................................................................... 10
INTERPRETING ENGAGEMENT: THE UNCERTAIN LINK BETWEEN EDUCATION AND ACTION.................................................. 11
ICT-enabled youth engagement in practice 12
IN-COUNTRY PROJECTS........................................................................................................................................... 12
INCLUSIVE PARTICIPATION................................................................................................................................... 12
RESPONSIVE INSTITUTIONS.................................................................................................................................. 13
GLOBAL AND NORTH–SOUTH INITIATIVES................................................................................................................... 14
SURVEYING AND ADVOCACY: CROWDSOURCING YOUTH VOICE.................................................................................. 14
GLOBAL YOUTH ACTIVISM: NETWORKS AND CAMPAIGNS......................................................................................... 15
GAMING.............................................................................................................................................................. 16
SCHOOL LINKING................................................................................................................................................. 16
GLOBAL PROJECT-BASED LEARNING..................................................................................................................... 18
Analysis 20
THE ROLE OF ICTS................................................................................................................................................... 20
PROGRAM DESIGN................................................................................................................................................... 21
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP................................................................................................................. 21
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEARNING AND ACTIVISM.................................................................................................... 22
ICT CAPACITY AND CONNECTIVITY............................................................................................................................. 22
ENHANCING AND BALANCING OUTCOMES FOR NORTH AND SOUTH.................................................................................. 24
GENDER AND ETHICS............................................................................................................................................... 24
Conclusions 26
Appendix I: CASE STUDY — Activista youth network 28
Appendix II: CASE STUDY — Make the Link — Climate exChange 31
Appendix III: CASE STUDY — Map Mathare (Nairobi, Kenya) 34
Appendix IV: Summary of cases 38
Bibliography 46
Interviews 49
Glossary 50
Endnotes 54

2 THE USE OF ICTS TO FACILITATE ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP BETWEEN YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE GLOBAL NORTH AND GLOBAL SOUTH
Acknowledgements
Consultant Daniella Ben-Attar prepared this paper for Oxfam
Australia. She worked under the management of Katia Rotar,
Program Administrator, Africa Unit, at Oxfam Australia in
coordination with Matthew Philips, Policy & Community
Engagement Coordinator at Oxfam Australia, together with an
Advisory Group comprising Oxfam Australia and Oxfam South
Africa staff members.
The author is grateful to all those interviewed for taking
the time to describe their projects and share insights. The
author would also like to thank Tim Campbell for his review of
the document.
Acknowledgements
Photo: Geoff Sayer/Oxfam

Executive summary
This review was commissioned by Oxfam Australia to
inform an information and communication technology (ICT)
pilot project, which aims to facilitate discussion about
development issues between Oxfam and young people in
South Africa and Australia. It also seeks to build active
citizenship — helping young people achieve their full
rights as citizens by supporting them to hold governments,
corporations and international organisations to account.
This review considers how ICTs are being used to engage
young people from the Global North (developed countries)
and the Global South (developing countries) around
issues of poverty and injustice. ICTs are broadly defined
as the hardware, software, networks, and media used to
collect, store, process, transmit, and present information
in the form of voice, data, text, and images. They include
any communication device or application, ranging from
telephone, mobile phone, radio and television to the Internet
and social networking platforms (World Bank, 2003).
The review considers 60 case studies, which illustrate how
ICTs are being used to create new opportunities for youth
engagement programming, while exposing the challenges
that need to be addressed if such programs are to succeed.
These cases are framed within a literature review of trends
and debates regarding youth, ICTs and the evolving fields
of global citizenship education, youth engagement and
active citizenship.
ICTs are an increasingly integral component of global active
citizenship initiatives. This trend is being driven by a rapidly
evolving global ICT industry, with different conditions and
characteristics in the Global North and Global South. ICTs
are being used in new ways to give young people a voice and
offer them pathways for civic activity. Young people are using
digital tools to express their views, participate in discussions
and create user-generated data that helps enhance service
delivery and government responsiveness.
The spread of ICTs is also connecting young people
worldwide, enabling links between local, national and global
development issues. This linking activity is taking place
through a variety of modalities, which are classified in this
review according to five categories: surveying and advocacy;
global youth activism; gaming; school linking; and global
project-based learning. Each modality uses technology in
different ways to advance specific development and global
citizenship education objectives.
Development professionals need to consider a range of
factors when planning to use ICTs as a tool for engaging youth
within and between developed and developing countries,
including:
• the role of ICTs
• program design
• project management
• the relationship between learning and activism
• ICT capacity and connectivity
• balancing outcomes for North and South; and
• gender and ethics.
The review presents key insights into these six areas,
and outlines success factors, limitations and risks that
can inform the design of ICT-enabled youth engagement
programs.
The findings conclude that ICTs have a fundamental role to
play in enabling young people to express themselves and to
collaborate locally, nationally and globally. Key benefits of
ICT-enabled programs for young people include:
• learning about global challenges
• acquiring life skills such as increased self-esteem,
communication skills, leadership and a global perspective
• developing English and ICT skills (for young people in the
South)
• building relationships and personal growth (for young
people in the North).
Dilemmas of North–South power differentials remain,
particularly in the marked differences in ICT capacity and
connectivity between developed and developing countries,
which must be taken into account when designing and
developing ICT-enabled youth programs.
The cases have revealed a multitude of opportunities,
challenges, success factors and limitations that all point
to the need for devoting serious attention to the role of
ICTs in the planning, implementation and evaluation of
youth engagement programs. Importantly, the findings
have cautioned against over-emphasising the role of ICTs.
Programs should not be driven by technology, but by global
citizenship education and development objectives towards
which ICTs can be leveraged. The literature, cases and
interviews have underscored the notion that ICTs are a tool
that can enhance, complement and amplify the impact of
“offline” policies, structures and programs designed to
meaningfully engage youth.
Executive summary

Introduction
Oxfam Australia commissioned this review to inform
the design and development of an information and
communication technology (ICT) pilot project. The project
aims to facilitate discussion about development issues
between Oxfam and young people in South Africa and
Australia and build active citizenship in each context.
The overall objective of this review is to shed light on present
and past experiences of using ICTs to engage young people
from the Global North and Global South around issues of
poverty and injustice and highlight the opportunities,
challenges and key lessons learnt from these experiences.
Oxfam has emphasised the need to ensure the engagement
of young people from the Global North and Global South is
mutually beneficial, respectful and inspires positive action.
Oxfam’s pilot project responds to two key components of the
organisation’s 2014–2019 Strategic Plan (Oxfam, 2014). The first
is “The Right to be Heard”, focusing on improving the ability of
people and communities “to have their voices heard, including
through the use of digital tools.”1
This goal specifically refers
to the importance of providing skills and access to women
and young people, enabling them to participate meaningfully
in decision-making processes that will shape their lives and
futures. The second strategic component driving the pilot
project is the operational goal of supporting a “Worldwide
Influencing Network”2
to bring about change locally, nationally
and internationally. Some of the ways Oxfam plans to achieve
this goal include investment in digital tools, capacity
and learning to support campaigns and change efforts.
Indeed, Oxfam views digital tools and strategies as central
mechanisms through which young people can forge links,
express themselves and influence local, national and global
frameworks to reduce poverty and inequality.
Aside from the Strategic Plan, the pilot project also relates
to the Africa Australia Community Engagement Scheme
(AACES), which funds water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
programs implemented by Oxfam in Zambia and South Africa.
The scheme also seeks to advance a development education
objective by engaging the Australian public in a discussion
about poverty, injustice, active citizenship and social
change. The literature review attempts to integrate these
various elements in a way that can help Oxfam Australia
develop effective programs that engage young people in
learning about global challenges and empower them to
take action to tackle these challenges. The review focuses
on the opportunities and challenges presented by rapid
developments in ICTs to help facilitate, enhance and amplify
the impact of these processes.
Introduction
Photo: Caroline Irby/Oxfam

Introduction

Introduction
Photo: Celia Aldana/Oxfam

Methodological approach
The research process included a literature review and the
development of 60 cases as empirical data for analysis.3
The review of literature provided an opportunity to frame the
research within current trends and debates regarding youth,
ICTs and the evolving fields of global citizenship education,
youth engagement and active citizenship.
Articles from academic journals were collected, as well as
resources and reports from international organisations,
government bodies and research institutes. References
from key documents were then followed up to uncover best
practices, demonstrative cases and evaluative studies. This
led to a more in-depth review of news articles and websites
on specific cases. Select projects were identified to develop
three in-depth case studies4
to provide further depth of
analysis to the review. Interviews were carried out with
project leaders, practitioners and experts as part of the case
study development process. The insights gained through the
interviews provided qualitative data that informed the overall
study beyond the specific cases.
Scope and limitations
The topic of youth and ICTs is a broad area of study that
can include many angles of research and discussion, such
as access, services, skills, employment and governance.
This review focuses specifically on the use of ICTs for youth
engagement and active citizenship. The review zeroes in
on how youth are employing ICTs to engage in discussion
and action relating to economic and social development,
addressing key issues surrounding poverty and injustice in
the Global South. The study does not explore parallel trends
in the Global North. Instead, it focuses on the Global South
as the primary target of the program. Key youth and ICT
data specifically relating to South Africa is provided where
relevant to inform the specific demographic targeted in the
program design. The literature review was limited to texts in
the English language that were accessible online.
The study was conducted over 10 weeks, including review
and feedback processes. The short timeframe demanded a
rapid, focused and limited review covering the most widely
cited texts and cases, while still maintaining the broad scope
of ICT-enabled engagement of youth within and between
communities of the Global North and Global South. A premium
was placed on identifying recent literature and cases, with
the knowledge that ICT is a fast moving field with evolving
developments of technology, services, costs, innovations
and uses having a marked impact on the research topic.
Focus of cases
This review focuses on ICT-enabled youth engagement
between communities of the Global South and Global North,
while providing background and highlights in the use of
ICTs to engage young people within their communities in
developing countries.
Project leaders expressed an interest in learning how
technology can best be used to engage youth in a local
context and how this may be integrated into the pilot project
and other programs. In response, the review presents a
general overview of in-country initiatives relating to Oxfam
objectives, referring to existing reports and resources, while
highlighting best practices, modalities and insights. Given
the project’s context, the review prioritises WASH projects as
local case examples for the Global South; it does not attempt
to provide an exhaustive account of all the ways youth are
using ICTs in communities.
How ICTs are used to engage youth between the Global
North and Global South has received far less attention in
the literature and is at the heart of the proposed Oxfam pilot
project. Much of the literature on this topic points to the use
of ICTs as a key opportunity for present and future programs
and cites a need for further examination and research.
Towards this goal, the review emphasises ICT-enabled
initiatives facilitating development-related engagement
between young people in the Global North and Global South.
This is reflected in the types of cases included, classified
according to those that are in-country examples of using ICTs
to affect local communities (20 cases), and those classified
as North–South or Global examples of those linking youth
across the North–South divide (40 cases).
The cases were also chosen to reflect geographic priorities of
the proposed program. The review limits in-country cases to
the Global South, preferring examples that can be applied to
the South African context in terms of ICT trends. As such, the
review prioritises cases from the African continent, paying
particular attention to relevant examples from South Africa.
However, it also includes experiences from other regions of
the developing world (e.g. South America) to ensure that the
most relevant and cutting-edge practices and insights in this
rapidly evolving field are captured.
Methodological approach

Context: youth engagement and ICTs5
There is a growing recognition that young people represent
a critical opportunity for economic and social progress on
local, national and global levels. The largest cohort in history,
youth (ages 15 to 24)6
number more than 1.2 billion, with an
estimated 87% living in developing countries.7
Young people in the Global South face enormous challenges
of unemployment, limited access to education and health
risks. They are among those most severely affected by
global inequalities, illustrated by stark disparities in youth
development indicators. For example, Australia is the leading
country worldwide in youth development, placed first out of
170 countries with a score of 0.86, while South Africa scores
0.58 on the Youth Development Index8
placed 100 out of
170 countries.
TECHNOLOGY — SPECIFICALLY
ICT — HAS PLAYED A CENTRAL
ROLE IN YOUNG PEOPLE’S RISE TO
PROMINENCE ON A GLOBAL SCALE.
IT HAS HELPED THEM MOBILIZE,
COLLABORATE AND GIVEN THEM A
VOICE WHERE THERE WAS NONE
BEFORE. IT HAS BROUGHT THEM
TOGETHER IN RESPONSE TO SOCIAL
CONCERNS. IT HAS CONNECTED THEM
ACROSS GEO-POLITICAL BARRIERS.
UNDESA, 2013
Policies and programs related to the needs and opportunities
of young people have been largely overlooked and neglected.
Indeed, youth worldwide have historically been excluded
from social, economic and political processes. At best, they
have been viewed as beneficiaries rather than resources for
driving positive change. Recent youth-led social movements
and student protests around the world have shone a
spotlight on the youth imperative, prompting governments
and organisations to prioritise and develop strategies and
mechanisms to effectively engage the young. The spread of
ICTs, particularly mobile phones, has been fundamental to
these trends.
Youth ICT trends
Youth are at the forefront of the rapid developments in ICTs,
both as drivers and consumers of technological innovation.
They are nearly twice as networked as the global population
as a whole, with the ICT age gap more pronounced in least
developed countries where young people are often three
times more likely to be online than the general population
(Pew Research, 2014). However, major divides exist between
the Global North (77% online) and Global South (31% online),
due to prohibitive costs and insufficient infrastructure
(ITU, 2013). In Africa, where internet usage is the lowest,
penetration has doubled over the past four years, estimated
at 16% in 2013, largely due to the emergence of mobile-
broadband services bringing internet at lower prices to
customers already using handsets.9
The “mobile miracle” has transformed the global ICT landscape.
There are nearly seven billion mobile phone subscriptions
worldwide, including 89% penetration in the developing
countries where more people have access to a mobile phone
than clean water or a toilet (ITU, 2013a). Most of these devices
are basic mobile phones or “feature phones” with limited
capabilities. While prices of smartphones are declining
and wireless broadband is experiencing rapid growth (ITU,
2013a), these devices are still out of reach for most users in
the Global South. Young citizens in the developing world are
working around the limitations of broadband access through
“narrowband” mobile communications applications tailored for
low-end mobile phones with little or no internet access. These
applications are heavily based on text messaging (SMS) and
scaled-down versions of social networking. Examples include
Facebook Zero (a stripped down text-based version of Facebook
optimised for simple mobile phones) and the integration of SMS
functions with Twitter and Gmail so tweets and emails can be
sent and received as text messages (World Bank, 2012).10

These trends gain concrete expression when looking more
closely at the South African case and comparing Australia
and South Africa. South Africa is home to one of the highest
users of mobile technology and mobile social networking on
the continent. The country is a leading innovator in Africa
in the areas of social networking and content creation,
boasting the development of MXit11
, Africa’s largest text
messaging service and social network used heavily by
young people — an example of narrowband. Youth are the
primary adopters of mobile technologies in South Africa, with
nearly 72% of mobile ownership among 15- to 24-year olds.
Nevertheless, digital divides regarding ICT ownership, access
and use are evident along race, gender, socioeconomic
background and geography — particularly the rural-urban
divide. Moreover, increased ICT access has brought with
it new risks facing South African adolescents, including
cyberbullying, sexting and communication with strangers
(Beger and Sinha, 2012).
According to 2013 International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) statistics, the youth internet penetration rate for
Australia is 99.6% compared to 73.5% in South Africa. 81.4%
of Australian households had internet access in 2012, while
only 25.5% of South African households were connected.
While mobile broadband is on the rise, gaps still remain. There
were 26 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
in South Africa compared to 102.7 subscriptions per 100
inhabitants in Australia. Differences are levelled when it
comes to mobile phone subscriptions. Australia has 106.2
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2012). Interestingly, South
Africa has 134.8 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants — more
than Australia12
(ITU, 2013a), illustrating the dominance of
low-end mobile phones.
Narrowband mobile for active
citizenship
The widespread use of mobile phones together with
innovative narrowband applications offers new means for
informing, empowering and engaging youth in the Global
South. Young citizens are using simple mobile technology
to innovate new platforms, tools and mechanisms aiming
to amplify their voices and participate in development
processes. Youth are engaged in ICT-enabled active
citizenship through mobile-based communication avenues,
user-generated information, tools tracking government
accountability, anti-corruption platforms, crowdsourcing,
social activism, online campaigns and more.13
However, the
role of ICTs must not be overstated. ICTs do not represent
a silver bullet for youth engagement, but a tool that can
enhance, complement and amplify impact of “offline”
policies, structures and programs designed to meaningfully
engage youth.
The intersection of youth and ICT trends in today’s world
underscores the need to investigate how growing up in a
digital age is impacting the way young people learn and
engage in civic activity in local and global contexts. The
literature has illustrated the opportunities presented by
ICTs as well as new and ongoing challenges. What are the
implications of these trends for global citizenship education
programs that link youth in the Global North and Global South?
We now turn to this question.

North–South youth engagement: trends and debates in the literature
Processes of globalisation have increased the exposure of
young people to global issues. This review acknowledges
two key tensions in literature and practice relating to youth
engagement in international development. The first involves
the interrelated and often conflicting goals of development
education for youth in the Global North, on the one hand, and
concrete development outcomes for youth experiencing day-
to-day problems in the Global South on the other. A second
tension is found in the link between learning and behaviour
in the context of youth engagement in global citizenship
education and activism.
Balancing development education
with development outcomes
Non-government organisations (NGOs), academic institutions
and government agencies in developed countries have largely
driven the engagement of young people in international
development and issues of global poverty through what has
been referred to as “development education”. These efforts
aim to develop skills, values, attitudes and processes of
engagement that foster active local and global citizenship.
Development education practice has historically focused
on formal education in schools. School linking has been a
core strategy employed in development education, fostering
interactions between young people in the Global North and
Global South in educational settings.
DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING
OF LINKS BETWEEN OUR OWN
LIVES AND THOSE OF PEOPLE
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, LOCAL-
GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCIES
AND POWER RELATIONS, GLOBAL
AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES, AND
ISSUES OF IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY
IN MULTICULTURAL CONTEXTS.
(SKINNER, BLUM & BOURN, 2013)
A critical tension of these linking activities has been
accommodating the development education objective
for students in the Global North with the need and
expectation for concrete development outcomes for
participants in the Global South. Critics of North–South
linking activities (Andreotti, 2008) fear that such programs
reinforce dependency, power imbalances and stereotypes.
Proponents hold that such programs can bring significant
benefits to young people in both the Global North and Global
South if planned, structured and implemented in a way that
recognises the different needs and objectives of both sides
(Bourn & Cara, 2013; Leonard, 2010).
Recent trends in this field have shifted to a broader
definition of “global citizenship education”, defined as
“a framing paradigm which encapsulates how education
can develop the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes
learners need for securing a world which is more just,
peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable”
(UNESCO, 2014).14
This approach emphasises providing
learners with skills and competencies to cope with the
dynamic, globalised, interdependent world of the twenty-
first century. It recognises the importance of fostering these
skills and attitudes among young people worldwide, a shift
from the past focus on the Global North. In this context,
ICTs are viewed as tools offering increasing opportunities
for the promotion of global citizenship education through
collaboration, cooperation, shared learning and collective
responses among youth worldwide (UNESCO, 2014).
North–South youth engagement:
trends and debates in the literature

Interpreting engagement:
the uncertain link between
education and action
There is a fundamental debate regarding the definition
of youth engagement that goes to the very heart of this
review. The literature reveals different perspectives on the
relationship between the two processes of learning and
action and how they relate to engagement. Bourn and Brown
point to the tendency to associate youth engagement with
“active global citizenship” and “participation,” emphasising
a sense of activism rather than one of reflection and
exploration. This has been found to reflect an understanding
of engagement as action among leading NGOs in the field.
Development education discourse discusses an assumed
relationship between information, awareness and action.
Conversely, some international NGOs adopt a reverse
approach where taking action is seen to lead young people
to understand issues of poverty and development. Either
way, it is clear that the relationship between learning and
action requires careful investigation and consideration when
developing youth engagement programs, demanding in-
depth reflection on underlying assumptions that are often
overlooked. Bourn and Brown caution “an over-emphasis
on engagement as participation and action … can mask
the importance of the learning processes and the complex
relationships between learning and behaviour” (Bourn and
Brown, 2011).
This point relates to the risks of passive engagement when
it comes to ICT-enabled participation discussed in the
literature. Critical views of digital strategies discuss the
concept of “clictivism” as shallow participation via social
media that does not represent meaningful engagement. The
success of online tools is dependent on their integration with
offline strategies, approaches and actions (Darton & Kirk,
2011). These risks notwithstanding, ICTs have been referred
to as “the new horizon” for global citizenship education
and programming, along with youth-led approaches. This
reflects the understanding that in one way or another,
these pervasive tools have become an intrinsic part of
communication and day-to-day life for most young people on
the globe, and therefore must be considered when devising
engagement strategies.
This review attempts to assess how ICTs figure into the two
tensions described above and to what extent these tools can
enhance benefits and mitigate risks. The key question then
becomes: How can ICTs be used to effectively engage youth
in North–South global initiatives to maximise the benefits of
active citizenship for young people while helping to deliver
positive development outcomes? A review of best practice
examples will attempt to shed light on this question.

Youth are using ICTs to engage in development-related
issues on local, national and global levels. This section
will begin with a brief review of best practices taking
place locally, characterised by young people using ICTs
for active citizenship in communities of the Global South.
Understanding this context is critical for designing any
North–South engagement program, given that global
initiatives typically include local actions. As such, the review
highlights successful modalities that apply in the South
African context to inform the in-country components of
global North–South linking programs.
In-country projects
ICTs are being used in new ways to give young people a voice
and offer them pathways for civic activity. While types of
initiatives vary widely, this review examines active citizenship
in two ways: 1) inclusive participation and 2) responsive
institutions.
Inclusive participation
ICTs are providing new channels for youth to express their
views, participate in discussions and communicate about
issues important to them. Initiatives often employ creative
combinations of social media, mobile phones and radio to
reach wide audiences. In Nepal, the Voices of Youth15
project
is giving voice to thousands of teenagers who are invited
to respond to weekly topics through text messages using a
free SMS code or through voice messages using Interactive
Voice Response (IVR).16
The program is implemented by
UNICEF Nepal’s Rural Voices of Youth Program in partnership
with local NGOs and media outlets. Comments from the text
messages are posted on UNICEF Nepal’s website and results
are broadcast on a popular radio program reaching a weekly
national audience of more than 6 million young people.
Besides its popularity, the program illustrates how creative
links between mobile, radio and internet can overcome
connectivity and literacy challenges to reach wider youth
audiences from rural areas and poorer communities.
Mobile phones are also being used to engage youth in
participatory governance processes as part of a larger
practice referred to as “m-Governance” (mobile-governance).
The Governance par le mobile project17
run by UNDP
Madagascar supported youth participation in discussions
about development in the country through mobile tools.
An SMS-based platform targeting 14–35 year olds provided
space for dialogue and exchange between more than
44,000 young people, who submitted their views on human
rights, citizenship and employment in more than 50,000
text messages. The project partnered with two national
telecom operators to enable free text messaging. This led
to a lobbying campaign in one region to generate awareness
around key issues affecting youth and promoting the
integration of young people’s opinions in policy processes.
Key challenges included the need for integrating formal and
structured systems to process and respond to youth inputs
and feedback, as well as youth capacity to use the SMS short
code to participate.
In addition to amplifying voice, ICTs are used to engage
young people in participatory approaches to community
development. Plan International’s Youth Empowerment
Through Arts and Media (YETAM)18
project is an instructive
example of how communications tools can be used to foster
active learning about issues impacting youth and enable
them to advocate for change. Using mapping, participatory
video, visual arts, and performing arts as a means of
investigation and expression, youth work in small teams to
identify resources and challenges in their communities. They
then produce arts and media about the issues and develop
an action plan to raise awareness and generate discussion
with community members, decision-makers and the general
public. By developing young people’s communication and
leadership skills, coupled with technology education and
practice with ICTs, YETAM opened new possibilities for youth
to take proactive roles in bettering their communities. The
project was implemented in six countries in Africa (Senegal,
Mali, Cameroon, Rwanda, Kenya and Mozambique) in
partnership with Nokia and local partners.19
ICTs are being used in innovative ways to include youth in
urban planning processes. For instance, the Block by Block
Minecraft Project20
creates real-world environments in
Minecraft, a popular online game, and lets the young people
that live in these environments step in and show urban
planners what they would like changed. The project is a
public–private partnership between UN-Habitat and Mojang
(the software company that developed the Minecraft game)
that originally started to get people aged 14 to 25 involved in
planning projects in their communities. The Minecraft platform
allows young people and community members to come
together in offline meetings and use collaborative online
tools to visualise their ideas for redesigning public spaces in a
digital landscape. The models are given to architects and then
presented to the city’s governing bodies for consideration.
The first pilot project is already under way in the Kibera slum
of Nairobi (Stark, 2014) where young people and community
members redesigned a public football field to promote shared
use, security and entrepreneurship. Four cities have been
added to the Block by Block program: Le Cayes (Haiti); Kiritpur
(Nepal); Nairobi (Kenya); and Mexico City (Mexico).
ICT-enabled youth engagement in practice

Responsive institutions
One of the most widely cited ways that youth are using ICTs for
active citizenship is by creating user-generated data that helps
enhance service delivery and government responsiveness.
A leading best practice example in this area that has gained
extensive publicity is the U-Report21
initiative implemented
by UNICEF in Uganda. U-Report invites young Ugandans to
participate in country-wide opinion surveys, which may be
taken into account in policy-making, using basic mobile phones
and a free SMS service. UNICEF staff send out a question twice
a week and collect the views of young people on a particular
topic. UNICEF then aggregates their views and brings their
voices into the media and to policy-makers. Results are printed
in newspapers and discussed with parliamentarians in a
dedicated television program, which is also broadcast on radio.
‘U-reporters’ number 205,000 (2013). U-report has now expanded
to several other countries in Africa (UNICEF, 2013a).
Digital youth mapping is another well-known modality of ICT-
enabled engagement. Young people are empowered to use
low-cost mapping technology and open source tools to engage
in participatory mapping that provides valuable information
as a basis for advocacy, action and informed community
development efforts. One of the most widely recognised
examples in this category is MAP Kibera22
, an initiative begun
in 2009 that trained young people living in the largest slum in
Nairobi, Kenya, to develop the first open data digital map of their
settlement. The positive outcomes of this initiative attracted
international attention to the digital mapping technique as
an effective way to facilitate planning, resource allocation
and policy-making in underserved areas. For example, Plan
International Kenya approached MAP Kibera to develop a
sanitation map of the Mathare slum of Nairobi to support
its Urban Community Led Total Sanitation (UCLTS) work. This
resulted in the youth-led initiative Map Mathare, which provides
insights into how young people from informal urban settlements
can use open mapping technology to further development
agendas.23
These efforts have spurred the development of
larger programs such as UNICEF’s Voices of Youth Maps24
, a
digital mapping program focusing on youth empowerment and
community advocacy (see Box 1).
Box 1: Voices of youth mapping environmental
issues in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This project empowered young people in Rio de Janeiro
to create dynamic and change-making maps using
cell phones and the internet. Young people were
introduced to the concept of digital mapping through a
set of workshops and activities on digital engagement,
youth empowerment and community advocacy.
The project design integrated digital tools with a
social and cultural strategy, and emphasised the use
of technology to drive active community participation
in learning about and responding to environmental
and social risks in their communities. Participants
used UNICEF-GIS, a youth-friendly mobile mapping
application, to produce web maps and visual reports
on issues such as sanitation, erosion and social
spaces. The project involved 111 adolescents (aged
11 to 18), community thought-leaders and local
authorities from five different communities. Following
the mapping process, young people and other
residents began working with local organisations to
implement community improvements.
Government representatives were involved from the
early stages of the project, which was a key factor in
its success, and resulted in real change in response
to the needs documented in more than 300 map casts.
For example, a local trash dump was removed in one
community, and in another area the city remodeled a
bridge used by pedestrians and cyclists. The hands-on
investigative approach encouraged young people to
think critically about how maps and digital tools can
inform community discussion on sustainability issues, as
well as affecting their own awareness and behaviours.
The initiative demonstrated that youth-led digital
mapping is a compelling tool to articulate adolescents’
concerns to local duty-bearers, generating positive
outcomes that directly impact the lives of young
people in favelas of Brazil.
The project was implemented by UNICEF Brazil with
local partners. Mapping tools were developed together
with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mobile
Experience Lab and the Public Laboratory for Open
Technology and Sconce (CEDAPS).
http://rio.unicef-gis.org/
See Giusti, Schadow, Boghani, Pomweroy, Wallen and Casalegno,
2013 for a full case study document.

Global and North–South initiatives
The spread of ICTs is connecting young people worldwide,
enabling links between local, national and global
development issues. The activity most relevant to this study
is reviewed below in five key categories, each classified
by specific objectives that drive technology and program
modalities employed.
Surveying and advocacy:
crowdsourcing youth voice
International institutions and organisations are increasingly
using ICTs to solicit young people’s opinions and views and
integrate these into regional and global decision-making
frameworks. My World25
is an example of an innovative
United Nations (UN) program that has broken new ground by
using crowdsourcing and digital media to include as many
people as possible in the debate on future global targets.
My World is a global survey to capture people’s voices,
priorities and views, to inform global leaders as they begin
defining the new development agenda for the world when
the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. To date,
2.3 million citizens have voted, 1.7 million of whom are under
the age of 30. The World We Want is a global portal bringing
these voices together in ways that can inform leaders
about citizens’ priorities worldwide. The platform aims to
help build a collective vision that the UN will use to plan a
new development agenda, launching in 2015, based on the
aspirations of all citizens. A similar process was conducted
on a regional level for youth in Africa. The Voice Africa’s
Future26
initiative used mobile technology to learn about
young people’s priorities in 10 African countries. This was
done through a campaign on local radio shows, celebrities,
newspaper adverts and various events encouraging them to
SMS “post2015” free of charge. Special considerations were
made in the project design to engage rural and marginalised
youth (Africa Monitor, 2013).
These platforms provide a basis for effective advocacy, and
typically result in crowdsourced declarations being drafted
for policy advocacy at key forums, conferences and decision-
making processes. A recent example is The Global Youth Call:
“Prioritising Youth in the Post-2015 Agenda”27
document,
which captures the input of thousands of young people to
the UN’s post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, based on
the top five thematic priorities of more than 1.3 million young
people who voted in the MYWorld2015 survey. These thematic
priorities were education, employment and entrepreneurship,
health, good governance, and peace and stability. More
than 1,000 organisations from more than 140 countries have
endorsed the Global Youth Call to date.
To what extent do initiatives like these constitute meaningful
engagement with young people? While impressive in
scope, large surveys often do not go beyond a short
process of answering questions. It should be noted that
deeper engagement is not necessarily a stated objective

of these initiatives, which are designed first and foremost
to crowdsource young people’s views for consideration in
decision-making frameworks. However, some crowdsourcing
programs do combine offline and online activities for greater
impact. For example, the BYND 2014 Global Youth Summit28
,
organised by the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), brought together some 600 participants from 68
nationalities at a conference in Costa Rica to help shape the
Post-2015 Development Agenda. This was complemented
by a crowdsourcing platform and connected to 43 local and
national hubs, including “remote hubs” for those lacking
access, so that young people could share their ideas on how
technology can contribute to a better world.29
Global youth activism: networks and campaigns
Young people are using ICTs to engage in global networks
that enable collective voices and action within and across
national boundaries. These often take the form of issue-
based campaigns that promote skill development, provision
of tools, support for local projects, peer sharing and local-
global links. For example, ACT 2015 — CROWDOUTAIDS30
facilitates a youth-led social action program addressing
the AIDS epidemic using social media and technology.
The initiative develops the skills and expertise of youth
organisations so that they can advocate for a commitment
to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, as well as universal
access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for all
young people. In the first phase, young people worldwide
organised community discussions that were registered
on crowdoutaids.org to set advocacy priorities. In Phase
2, ACT2015! launched a strategy toolkit, promoting a
global campaign for country-level action, which provided
online tools for youth organisations to take action in their
communities, including an online workbook and support
platform. The Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network is
another widely cited example of how young people are
harnessing ICTs to share ideas and experiences across
borders to address common global challenges (see Box 2).
Global activism strategies also foster global citizenship
through online and offline mobilisation to create political
pressure, fundraise for global campaigns and change
behaviours. A prime example is Activista31
, ActionAid’s
global youth network, which involves more than 50 ActionAid
partners and thousands of volunteers in more than 25
countries in the Global North and Global South. The network
aims to develop young leaders and activists with the skills,
knowledge and attitude necessary to create social change.
The initiative creates a space for global discussions among
activists to improve the capacity to organise and mobilise
youth using social media and other tools to connect
marginalised young people with other young people and
power holders. This is informed by a theory of change
that suggests a model led by the South and supported by
solidarity, credible rights-based alternatives and campaigns
that address the structural causes of poverty.32
Activist approaches to global citizenship raise questions
regarding the relationship between learning and action.
Experts in the field express concern that international NGOs
may use young people to mobilise support for their own
campaigns, rather than developing a deeper understanding
of global issues among youth and enabling them to take
action in the way they see fit (Interview, Bourn). The People
and Planet33
organisation in the UK has been cited as using
Box 2: Harnessing ICTs to join youth in a global struggle against corruption
The Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC) is a global network of young leaders, journalists, artists and ICT experts
who work to improve transparency and social accountability for better governance. The GYAC Network‘s mission is to
empower young people and promote innovation in the fight against corruption. Key objectives include facilitating global
technology and knowledge exchange, and strengthening international solidarity for regional and local struggles in
the fight against corruption. A unique attribute of the GYAC Network is the use of art and alternative media as cultural
components against corruption. GYAC supports its members by:
• connecting them globally to share knowledge and support each other against corruption
• raising awareness about corrupt practices using music to amplify the anti-corruption message to young people worldwide
• sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas, and collaborating on anti-corruption initiatives from a distance through its
web platform and social media outlets, and via face-to-face conferences; and
• developing innovative tools and strategies to improve transparency and social accountability.
Since the Network’s launch in 2010, GYAC has more than 60 member NGOs from more than 45 countries, and more than
1,500 members on its various web platforms. GYAC’s global music platform Fair Play is an awareness-raising program and
network-building effort to connect socially conscious artists and citizens worldwide. Sponsored jointly with Jeunesses
Musicales International (JMI), Fair Play has involved more than 130 bands from 45 countries and produced hundreds of
music videos, all of which can be viewed at www.anticorruptionmusic.org.
http://voices-against-corruption.ning.com/links

best practice in facilitating the relationship between
learning and campaigning. The largest student network in
the country, People and Planet empowers young people with
the skills, confidence and knowledge they need to make
change happen, at home and globally. Student campaigns
are democratically chosen and led by young people across
the UK, acting to end world poverty, defend human rights and
protect the environment.
Gaming
ICT-enabled youth engagement tools must be relevant,
attractive and exciting to be effective. The “gamification”
of ICT and mobile tools has been cited as an innovative,
effective way to attract and engage young people in the
Global North and Global South in global citizenship activity
and learning about critical global development challenges.
(Ben Attar & Campbell, 2013; Parker, 2014).
The World Bank Institute developed the unique EVOKE34
program following discussions with African universities
that sought attractive ways to engage students in finding
solutions to development challenges. Set in 2020, EVOKE is
an online crash course that challenges students to address
future world crises, such as food and water shortages.
Launched on 3 March 2010, the ten-week course enabled
20,000 players to participate and develop innovative
approaches to solving real global challenges using 21st
century skills. The pilot focused on South Africa, but included
young people from around the world as it was designed to
encourage young people to collaborate with each other
worldwide.
An evaluation of EVOKE conducted in 2010 (Natoma Group, 20
10) found positive results, as well as limitations. Surveys of
African students demonstrated that they found learning 21st
century skills an empowering experience, which increased
their awareness of global issues and connection to local
realities. Gaming as a mode of engagement was shown to
develop motivation in students, resulting in positive learning
and skill acquisition. Beyond the motivational factors that
contributed to more time with the content, there was a
great deal of peer learning and interaction (North–South and
South–South) through the mechanics of the social aspects of
the game. This contributed to the conclusion that students
learn and understand concepts better from their peers. Key
limitations were issues of access and connectivity, which
restricted participation in the initiative primarily to African
university students.
Gaming for global citizenship and development education
has also been mainstreamed into social media outlets such
as Facebook. Half the Sky Movement35
is an award-winning
Facebook adventure game that raises awareness and funds
to empower women and girls across the world. The game
introduces the challenges women and girls face in difficult
circumstances and invites players to become part of the
solution. Players embark on a global journey that begins in
India, moves on to Kenya, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, and ends
in the United States. Along the way, players meet different
characters and take action by unlocking funds from the
game’s sponsors to make direct impact. For example, players
can collect books for young girls in the virtual world and then
activate a real-life donation of books to Room to Read (total
of 250,000 books). The game’s partners include the Fistula
Foundation, GEMS, Heifer International, ONE, Room to Read,
the United Nations Foundation and World Vision. The game
has reached 1 million players and raised 410,450 USD in direct
and sponsored donations to date.36
School linking
Programs linking schools between the Global North and
Global South have been carried out for more than 20 years.
These initiatives are usually driven by government funding
priorities in the Global North viewing school linking as a
valuable way of fostering understanding of global issues and
international development.37
School linking programs are
typically characterised by structured partnerships focusing
on development education objectives of the Global North.
Connections between schools have traditionally taken the
form of letter writing, exchange visits and sending artistic
works through the mail. The spread of ICTs has introduced
new tools to upgrade and enhance linking efforts, increasing
opportunities for more enriching and personalised forms of
communication between students. However, longstanding
tensions of school linking related to power differentials
and competing objectives between North and South
remain, gaining new expression in ICT-related challenges of
connectivity, skills and infrastructure.
In the United Kingdom, funding for school linking
programs diminished in 2010 when government support
for development education was lost. The British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms38
was the only program that
continued to receive funding. The program supports links
between schools in the UK and countries across Sub-
Saharan Africa and South Asia; professional development for
teachers in the UK and overseas; and awards to schools that
demonstrate a strong global dimension in their curriculum.
More than 5,200 schools and 936,000 young people across
the world have participated in Connecting Classrooms.
A 2013 internal review found overall positive outcomes
for the program, with improvements in the teaching of
global citizenship in schools. However, the online platform
developed for the program (Schools Online) has not been

widely used, attributed to poor site functionality and the
plethora of free, high-quality collaboration tools available
on the internet, including Facebook and Skype. As a result,
the British Council has now set up a partnership with Skype
through the Skype in the Classroom initiative (DFID, 2013).39
NGOs have also been key players in school linking. Plan
International40
has been a leader in this field41
with its
youth-led approaches to global learning through School
Linking programs in the UK and US42
(see Box 3) and Global
Connections43
program in Australia (Schultz et. all, 2009).
Another leading organisation in the field is Link, which has
been engaged in school linking since the 1990s. Link’s
Partners in Development Project44
provides an instructive
case study to learn about the challenges and benefits of
linking with rural youth. The three-year project ran from
2010–2012, linking schools in in England, Scotland, Wales
and Ireland with schools in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa.
Challenging traditional linking models, the project aimed to
demonstrate that North–South school partnerships could
enhance both development education and education quality
in African schools. This was approached through a project
design that focused on themed learning activities related
to development, complemented by direct actions to improve
African schools, including a 40 school solar technology pilot,
“Solar Connect”.45
While the solar connectivity component brought real
benefit to the African schools, it failed to facilitate ICT-
based communication with partners in the North. There was
insufficient time and capacity to establish the infrastructure,
a lack of skills to operate the program, insufficient bandwidth
for tools such as Skype, and the connected computers were
used for income-generating purposes in the African schools
(Interview, Bourn). Solar Connect did enable some basic
communication through email and access to the web portal,
but the primary means of communication between schools
remained the sending of letters and materials through courier
shipments.
Reports demonstrate that the program achieved notable
success in enhancing performance in African schools and
building development knowledge in UK schools. However,
tensions between these two objectives presented ongoing
challenges that negatively affected the project and
eventually led to Link’s decision to end its school linking
program altogether (Bourn and Cara, 2013).
Box 3: Best practices in school linking:
youth leadership and narrowband
communications
A best practice example of school linking was a
program implemented by Plan UK between 2007 and
2011, linking 300 schools in the UK with partner
schools in China, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal and Sierra
Leone. The theory of change for the project was
that every student engaged in a link would gain an
understanding of global issues affecting young people
and develop skills to take action.
The program evaluation identified key benefits of
enhanced communication skills, broadening of
horizons and increased cross-cultural understanding.
Outcomes for young people in the Global South focused
on infrastructure support (buildings, computers),
while outcomes for young people in the UK pointed
to increased awareness of and concern about social
justice. However, the most distinctive feature leading
to positive program impact was the development of
student Steering Committees in each participating
school in charge of guiding the development of the link.
The committees empowered young people to engage
in decision-making processes and cultivate leadership
skills (Bourn and Kybird, 2012).
The school linking program used a variety of
communication methods, including post, video
conferencing and email. In the last year of the
program, Plan UK introduced text messaging as an
effective way to keep connections going in light of
internet connectivity challenges in the Global South,
using FrontlineSMS (see link below) — free open source
software used to transfer information through text
messages using a cell phone and computer, without
the need for an internet connection.
Schools in Malawi, Sierra Leone and the UK used
FrontlineSMS to send texts confirming receipt of
posted letters and materials, exchange ideas for new
projects, and organise travel for teacher exchanges
as part of the linking project (Monk, 2011). This
development received positive feedback from teachers
and coordinators and serves as an instructive example
of how adapting ICT tools to local contexts can lead to
successful outcomes (Interview, Au).
The School Linking program closed in 2011,
along with other similar programs in the UK, as a
change in government policy withdrew funding for
development education.
http://www.frontlinesms.com/

Global project-based learning
The spread of ICTs and open software has led to the
increased use of virtual learning platforms to engage young
people in global citizenship education. The global project-
based learning approach encourages learners to collaborate
on a global ICT platform to solve global problems, with
attention to real-world tasks. Several different types of Web
2.0 tools such as Skype, wikis, blogs, iMovie, discussion
forums, and podcasts can be used to conduct global
educational exchanges. While the choice of media is the
catalyst for student engagement, the importance of global
exchange rests on the opportunity to build a relationship of
understanding through collaboration and inquiry (Reese &
Horgan, 2013).
While this approach is mainly implemented in a school
environment, it differs from the traditional structured school
linking programs popular in the past. Global project-based
learning is to a large extent led by teachers and students,
with flexibility in teaching practices created by how educators
choose to use technology. Global platforms and tools are used
to connect classrooms and communities within and between
the Global North and Global South in an open environment.
This environment allows students and teachers to request
school connections according to the country they would like
to work with, as well as their preferred collaborative tools,
topics of interest and project ideas. The two most widely used
platforms are ePals46
and iEARN.47
ePals is the world’s largest network of kindergarten to
grade 12 classrooms, enabling students and teachers to
safely connect and collaborate with classrooms in more
than 200 countries and territories. Educators can join ePals
at no cost to find collaborative projects, join discussions
in community forums, and search thousands of classroom
profiles to engage with others. iEARN (International Education
and Resource Network) is a non-profit organisation made
up of more than 30,000 schools and youth organisations
in more than 140 countries. iEARN empowers teachers and
young people to work together online using the internet and
other new communications technologies to collaborate on
projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the
world. Many participating countries have their own iEARN
coordinator and teacher support structure to help educators
integrate this technology into their classroom teaching
and learning. These tools are often used in more structured
global citizenship and development programs. For example,
the Youth Learning for Change project48
in Sana’a, Yemen,
combined online learning and ICT tools with civic engagement
in the community together with online discussion and sharing
with youth internationally through iEARN.
While these programs are flexible and empower teachers
and students to lead the process, concerns have been
raised as to whether they can achieve impact, sustainability
and meaningful engagement through such open and loose
approaches. More structured project models have been
implemented, engaging students in more focused global
ICT-enabled collaborative problem-solving for specific
challenges. For example, the Make the Link — Climate
exChange49
program created a forum for young people
in six European and African countries to work together
to combat climate change by developing skills in global
citizenship, advocacy and campaigning. The challenges and
achievements of the program provide a useful illustration
of the difficultly in striking the delicate balance between
openness and flexibility of ICTs on one hand, and the
importance of structure and ongoing project guidance on
the other. Another example is the DeforestACTION50
program
engaging students across the globe to address illegal
deforestation as part of their classroom activities. In addition
to various forms of social media, innovative elements are
integrated such as Earthwatchers51
, a software tool that
enables students from around the world to monitor the
forests of Borneo and provide usable intelligence to help stop
deforestation.
It is clear that teachers are the critical force in driving
school-based global citizenship programs and are powerful
influencers of young people. As such, ICT platforms have
been developed to build the capacity of educators to use
technology for collaborative global learning. TakingITGlobal
for Educators (TIGed)52
facilitates online training for
teachers in “global classrooms” designed to equip them with
knowledge, skills and know-how to lead global education
learning for their students. In addition to learning new
content, teachers learn how to leverage the benefits of
technology for active learning among their students, helping
to bridge the ICT capacity gap often found between teachers
and young people.
The TIGed Network includes more than 11,000 teachers and
4,000 schools, including a community of practice for teachers
where they can share lesson plans, experiences and tools.
Program leaders note the sizeable participation of teachers
from the Global South, often through sponsored programs. No
significant connectivity challenges have been experienced
to date, attributed to a design that accommodates low
bandwidth environments, the flexibility of the self-paced
program, and the assumption that teachers have access to a
functioning internet connection for a short time once a week
— something that is not always the case for young people
(Interview, MacLean).

Photo: Ros Goodway/Oxfam

Analysis
ICTs are an increasingly integral component of global active
citizenship initiatives. This trend is being driven by a rapidly
evolving global ICT industry, with different conditions and
characteristics in the Global North and Global South. The
cases point to new opportunities for youth engagement
programming, while exposing key challenges that need to
be addressed if such programs are to succeed. An analysis
of these challenges, opportunities, limitations and success
factors is provided in the following section.
The role of ICTs
A key principle emphasised in ICT for Development (ICT4D)
projects across the board is the understanding that
technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Indeed, the literature and interviews have underscored the
notion that ICT is a tool that can serve larger active global
citizenship and development program objectives. The
opportunity of ICT lies in its capacity to enhance outcomes,
widen reach and facilitate processes. Once project objectives
have been defined, ICTs can then be leveraged as potentially
effective tools to help reach those objectives.
In the current context for example, the primary
questions become:
• What does the pilot program seek to achieve by engaging
young people from the Global North and Global South?
• What are the indicators of success in such an initiative?
• Are success indicators different for young people in the
Global North than those in the Global South?
Once these issues are clear, development professionals can
then analyse how ICTs can best be employed to reach their
desired goals and increase their chances of success.
Initiatives that place ICT at their centre, such as
crowdsourcing, online surveys and virtual platforms, can be
effective in harnessing and amplifying young people’s voices
to promote inclusive decision-making processes. Designed
primarily for the goal of expressing voice, such initiatives are
limited in their levels of youth engagement. Global project-
based learning approaches, if not implemented within an
effective program structure, are also constrained by their
technology focus. Bourn explains: “These initiatives are
problematic because technology drives the link. Technology
should be the tool to enable you to do what you decide to do,
not the driver.”53
Meaningful engagement ensues when young
people have a mutual concern about an issue and decide they
want to act on it together. It is from this point that they can
decide how they can best go about achieving their objectives,
including the use of ICTs, rather than the reverse process.
“ONLINE ENGAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
SHOULD BE EMPLOYED AS PART OF A
SUITE OF APPROACHES TO INVOLVE
YOUNG PEOPLE WITHIN THE AID
AND DEVELOPMENT SECTOR. THEY
SHOULD NOT REPLACE FACE-TO-
FACE STRATEGIES OR OPPORTUNITIES
FOR DIRECT EXPOSURE BUT RATHER,
SHOULD BE INTEGRATED WITHIN A
DIVERSE RANGE OF APPROACHES,
WHICH MERGE ONLINE AND OFFLINE
ACTIVITIES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT
AND STRENGTHEN ENGAGEMENT
PATHWAYS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.”
Key Finding #12, Australian Council for International Development 2012
Casper Knudsen of ActionAid provides important insight on
the role of ICTs in cultivating youth engagement in global
networking efforts: “I was the Digital Manager of Activista but
I was not doing too much digital work … I supported youth in
how to use various digital tools to be active in the network.
My efforts mostly focused on the relationships — talking
to people, communicating in whatever way worked, email,
Facebook, phone — building an actual community of people
who trust you so you can get them involved.”54
On their own, ICT tools are not enough. Experience shows
that the dedicated efforts of project coordinators, together
with a daily investment in cultivating an active network, are
required to encourage young people from diverse countries
to take local action on global campaign issues. Young
people participating in local activism demonstrate a level of
involvement that goes beyond writing a post, answering a
question via SMS or participating in an online forum. These
types of ICT-enabled activities can complement offline
activity for enhanced impact.
When using ICTs to engage young people, programs should
assess how they can combine online and offline strategies
for optimal results. Young people in different geographic
locations interacting through ICTs are able to strengthen
their relationships through face-to-face meetings, leading
to deeper levels of engagement and collaboration. On the
global level, the blending of face-to-face events with online
activity has been effective for project leaders, facilitators and
teachers that convene for training, project development and
coordination. Larger numbers of young people can participate
in offline local activity within their communities relating to the
global issues they are engaged with in an online framework.
Analysis

Analysis
Program design
One of the most critical success factors for ICT-enabled youth
engagement projects is the adoption of a participatory, youth-
led project design. ICT tools are often designed by adult project
leaders and technical experts, without considering the usage
patterns, familiarity and preferences of the users themselves.
This refers to both the project development process and
ongoing implementation. Youth-led programs are effective
in mitigating the risks of tokenism, ensuring relevance and
ownership, and empowering young people to take active roles
in effecting positive change on issues that matter to them.
These are key ingredients to sustained, meaningful youth
engagement, which can present challenges in a global program
context. The Youth Steering Committees in Plan UK’s School
Linking project provide a model of how local youth leadership
groups can make decisions that can then be shared with peers
on the other side of the link. Activista brings national youth
coordinators together for face-to-face meetings, as well as joint
Skype calls and forums to facilitate participatory processes.
In general, North–South linking programs have been
characterised as complex, difficult and labour intensive. The
lesson learned in this respect is the need to invest heavily in
the planning and preparation stages. New programs should
start out small, build a culture of cooperation, assess impact
and then scale up. A special emphasis should be placed on
assessing risks, challenges and benefits to ensure success.
This includes trialing communication mechanisms, including
a pilot phase allowing youth to test technology and program
design (ChildFund Australia, 2011). A critical part of this
process is an honest, open communication process among
partners in the North and South that recognises differences
in expectations, conditions and objectives. Northern partners
drive most linking programs, and their Southern counterparts
are often reluctant to openly criticise links. Successful
programs are based on mutual interests where both sides
learn, share and benefit (Burr, 2005; UKOWLA, 2007).
The cases have also outlined the spectrum of ICT-enabled
project structures, ranging from completely open, free and
user-driven tools such as iEARN and ePALS to rigid, structured
programs such as Link’s Partners for Development that are
tied to donor priorities and regulations. Organisations are
advised to design programs that allow for some level of
flexibility within an overall program structure that guides the
program towards its stated mission and objectives. This point
also holds true relating to content, as described by Soren
Warburg of ActionAid: “Programs do not have an impact if youth
are engaging just because they are youth, with no unifying
idea behind the engagement. There needs to be a common
challenge they want to change, a compelling political issue
around which they can organise and take action.”55
Finally, program design needs to take the issue of
sustainability into account. As this review has shown,
development education programs are often donor driven and
therefore subject to shifting government priorities. Engaging
youth and communities between the Global North and Global
South requires considerable resources and are not self-
sustaining. Investments in relationship building, networks
and tools are often lost once funding cycles end or priorities
change, often leading to disappointment for participants
particularly in the Global South (Burr, 2005). The web platform
that featured in the Make the Link — Climate exChange
program could not be sustained once the funding cycle
ended. Plan UK was able to continue hosting the web portal
for a year following the program’s closure, but needed to then
close the domain, resulting in a loss of valuable resources,
networks and information (Interview, Au).
Project management and
leadership
Given the complexity of North–South engagement programs,
strong project leadership is critical. In school-based
initiatives, teachers are often the drivers of programs, acting
as social entrepreneurs bringing global citizenship into the
classroom. As such, cultivating relations between teachers
has been a successful strategy to strengthen and sustain
links. SMS texting between teachers and coordinators
has helped overcome communication barriers (Kirtley &
Ritchie, 2013; Plan UK, 2013). The existence of local project
staff in participating countries has also been a key factor
for program success. The Link Partners for Development
project benefitted from the presence of local staff in each
participating country, who provided support and coordination
in the communities of the Global South.
Successful programs are implemented within strong
frameworks. As mentioned above, ICT tools and components
are effective when implemented within wider development
programs for maximum impact. In school frameworks,
programs integrated in the formal curriculum are more
successful than those that are “add-ons’ to the already
burdensome load that teachers must carry, particularly in the
Global South. Youth networks require strong coordination and
dedicated staff to work behind the scenes to cultivate North–
South and multi-country programs. The complexity of tasks
and challenges require a robust administrative structure
to be in place at the inception of the program to guide and
monitor implementation.
An interesting point that has emerged is the importance
of broad organisational support for youth engagement to
develop and sustain effective programming in this area.

AnalysisTHE ROLE FOR INVESTORS — RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT IN THE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES INDUSTRY
Interviews highlighted a difficulty in mobilising internal
support for global youth engagement programs within
international NGOs that are not youth-focused by nature.
This was mentioned as a key challenge by all interviewed
from ActionAid in relation to its Activista program. As stated
by ActionAid Global Engagement Director Tom Allen: “Having
been involved in Activista for over four years, I have never
seen an issue with North–South power imbalance. I’ve seen
far more issues of imbalance within large NGOs!” This has to
do with the structure of youth engagement as a strategic
issue within the organisation and across country offices.56
Much effort and time has been invested in generating support
for the Activista youth network and youth-focused approach
as an organisational priority.
Relationship between learning
and activism
The uncertain relationship between development education
and active global citizenship is evident in this review.
Initiatives focused around school linking and learning do not
necessarily lead to action. In many ways, this can be seen as
a function of project objectives and design. Recent trends are
much more geared to activism than in the past, with project
designs including the application of global development
concepts learned into local community action. This was
successfully accomplished in projects such as Make a Link
that distributed small grants to students to implement their
own ideas on climate change following their participation in
learning programs.
Integrating learning components in activist-oriented
initiatives such as campaigning has been identified as an
important aspect of meaningful youth engagement. Enabling
young people to gain a deep understanding of the issues can
empower them to take effective, relevant action in the way
that they wish. This is often missing in current approaches,
which are criticised for dictating actions to young people
rather than empowering them to lead. “Many people leading
international NGOs come from a campaigning background
and don’t necessarily understand learning. The role of NGOs
is to support young people in the process of learning and
offer them opportunities to take their ideas forward as
they choose.” (Interview, Bourn). This can be done through
youth-adult dialogue in the context of the learning process,
either a teacher within a school or the structures of a youth
network. The important lesson here is that NGOs should play
a facilitating role, creating the conditions for young people
to decide what types of actions they want to take within a
given framework.
In nearly all of the cases, ICTs are being used in some form to
enhance global citizenship education goals. School linking
and project-based learning initiatives have distributed online
resources to partners in the Global North and Global South
through virtual platforms, enhanced by more interactive
learning through online communication. The appeal of
gaming exposes young people to educational content in
a fun, interactive environment. Global activist networks
focus campaign strategies to foster understanding and
awareness of the issues before engaging in more targeted
activities, such as Activista’s “Tax Power” photo campaign.57
In Nigeria, the importance of deepening learning related to
Activista campaigns was recognised, prompting the local
team to explore ways that narrowband social media could
enhance understanding of the issues.58
This resulted in the
development of an online #TaxPowerNG Twitter conference,59
enabling thousands of young people to learn from experts,
participate in discussions and ask questions related to tax
issues. With more than 150,000 hits and an estimated 1.5
million people exposed to the initiative, this type of strategy
appears to have significant potential in cultivating learning
on a wide scale in the Global South.60
ICT capacity and connectivity
Low internet penetration levels in developing countries have
rendered connectivity an ongoing challenge to ICT-enabled
development programs targeting youth in the Global North
and South. Recent ICT trends have made internet connectivity
more accessible in urban areas, with more youth than ever
before able to access the internet to some extent through
their university, school, home, internet café or mobile
phone. Rural areas and marginalised populations are largely
disconnected and engaging them through ICTs is particularly
challenging. This underscores the importance of defining
the target population for a given program and integrating
specific measures to address connectivity realities. Clearly,
urban youth can bring quick wins for ICT-enabled projects,
particularly university students. In order to reach rural youth,
projects must invest in equipment, training and/or the use of
intermediaries to deliver content and engage offline.
In many cases, connectivity challenges have been overcome
in creative ways: recording video sessions and sending by mail
(ChildFund Australia); establishing solar-powered internet
stations in rural areas (Link); developing narrowband learning
and campaigning platforms (Activista); using Frontline SMS for
school linking (Plan UK); and sending content in text-based
format to mobile phones (TakingITGlobal) to name a few. In
Nigeria and other Acivista locations in the Global South, urban
youth act as intermediaries for their rural peers, bringing them
print-outs of newsletters and learning materials, attending

Analysis
face-to-face meetings with them and calling them on their
mobile phones.
While SMS is widely available among rural youth, the
limitations of text messaging have been cited as a challenge
in developing effective engagement through this medium
alone.61
This is true on a national level, and even more so
when it comes to North–South links. “How can a young
person in Denmark meaningfully interact with a young person
in a rural location in Africa through SMS?”62
In many cases,
this has resulted in the bulk of interaction taking place
through sending letters and materials through the post,
using intermediaries or pushing interaction to the sidelines
altogether and focusing on local activities. The opportunities
for using SMS on a local level are much greater, but young
people have cited the need for skills and capacity to develop
these modalities in a way that meet program objectives
(Interview, Habba).
Programs using ICTs need to address ICT capacity gaps in
the early stages of the program before starting North–South
interactions. This includes ICT training for project leaders
and beneficiaries in the first phase of the program and the
possible investment in hardware where necessary. It is
important to note that while issues relating to ICT capacity
can be a challenge, they can also be an opportunity. Young
people growing up in a digital age have the capacity to
acquire ICT skills quickly and easily, something found
in programs from Vietnam to Malawi. When appropriate
technologies are used for partners in the Global South, ICT
skills among young people are not a barrier. In this sense,
ICT capacity gaps can be viewed as a source of inequality
between North and South, but also a leveler. Going further, ICT
innovation is also in the hands of young people who are often
best placed to devise what are often creative but simple
strategies to overcome connectivity issues. Referred to as
“digital natives” in the literature (ITU, 2013), technologically
savvy young people themselves can be critical assets in ICT
project design, troubleshooting and implementation.
Importantly, the major barrier in this regard becomes the
adult leaders, particularly when it comes to teachers.
Initiatives operating in school environments have faced
complex situations where African students participating
in linking programs quickly begin to use ICT project tools,
while their teachers are still struggling with very basic ICT
and computing skills. When this situation was apparent in
the Make a Link project, the project team needed to take a
few steps back and provide basic ICT training to educators —
from how to turn on a computer to using a keyboard — which
delayed project activities and required additional resources.
The project staff had not foreseen such challenges at the
outset, underscoring the importance of conducting an ICT
capacity assessment for the Global North and Global South in
the planning stages (Interview, Au).
One of the most fundamental lessons learned in this review
and through past ICT4D programs relates to the technology
itself. A common approach to designing ICT-enabled
engagement programs is to develop a special ICT platform
that will magically facilitate communication, learning and
engagement among its users. This approach has failed time
and again. Experience has shown that programs should build
on what young people are already using, leveraging existing
technologies that youth are engaged with for their specific
project objectives. This point was emphasised clearly by
all interviewees and illustrated in the cases across the
board. For example, when the online platform developed for
a British Council School Linking Program was cumbersome
and unfriendly for use, young people quickly shifted their
interactions to familiar platforms such as Facebook and
Skype (Kirtley & Ritchie, 2013). Activista Global Engagement
Director Tom Allen asserts: “There is a temptation to create
your own ICT platform, but there is absolutely no point.
Youth are already heavily using Facebook, we are trying to
capitalise on that by building a very strong online community
with Facebook as the cement.”63
Following this principle, a second fundamental lesson is
to enable flexibility in technology uses and strategies in
ICT-enabled development programs. There is no one-size-
fits all ICT platform when it comes to global youth networks
and North–South engagement. We are reminded of the
dangers of putting too much focus on the ICT device itself
rather than the goal it intends to serve. In the Link Partners
for Development project, despite great efforts put into the
Solar Connect project, the most meaningful discussion took
place through materials sent through the mail. The Activista
program began with the creation of a single platform but
quickly saw its limitations: “We have moved beyond the idea
of one platform. We now focus on the issue and then find the
different platforms through which to engage people around
this issue, be it SMS, voice, Facebook, google docs … there
needs to be plurality.”64
The Make a Link platform illustrates
the limitations of a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach that
did not fulfill its expectations, with donor requirements and
issues of child safety preventing the integration of more
flexible narrowband approaches suitable for the Global South
once the program got started (Interview, Au).

Analysis
Enhancing and balancing outcomes
for North and South
The review of trends and cases illustrates how ICTs can
enhance global citizenship education and development for
young people in the Global North and Global South when
applied in an integrated, suitable and flexible manner. Overall,
ICTs have provided new channels for young people to express
themselves and collaborate on local, national and global
levels. Key benefits of programs have included learning about
global challenges, as well as the acquisition of life skills
such as increased self-esteem, communications, leadership
and global perspective. Differences in benefits take the
form of more concrete outcomes such as the development
of English and ICT skills for young people in the South, with
a focus on relationship-building and personal change for
their counterparts in the North. Dilemmas of North–South
power differentials remain, most clearly expressed by marked
differences in ICT capacity and connectivity. To be sure,
the mobile miracle and rise in narrowband applications in
recent years have contributed to a partial leveling of these
differences when it comes to urban youth in the Global South.
Challenges relating to donor and dual objectives of education
and development must still be considered. However, trends
lean in the direction of global project-based learning and
global networking models that focus on issues of mutual
concern to youth in the Global North and Global South. This
is rooted in a perspective that recognises global-local links
inherent in today’s major development challenges. Project
evaluations have often reported the sharing of similar
interests by youth from diverse locations. Where efforts
centre around challenges in the Global South, young people
have reported positive outcomes of ICT-enabled North–South
interactions in four key areas: solidarity, knowledge-sharing,
collaborative activity and capacity building. Participation
in global youth engagement initiatives can increase
participants’ abilities to effect change in their communities
and in global arenas.
Overall, evaluations have found most outcomes to be
positive for youth participants of North–South engagement
programs. ICTs are viewed as a decisive factor in achieving
these outcomes. Digital tools excite young people, which
in turn leads to enhanced learning. Young people are often
more positive about the process itself (games, technology)
than the learning. Beyond the functional roles it serves,
ICTs motivate young people, teach them useful skills and
build good connections.65
ChildFund Australia reported
that participants from developing countries enjoyed the
program twice as much as their Australian counterparts
(ChildFund Australia, 2011). While the spread of ICTs has
increased opportunities for North–South communication
and collaboration, there is often a need for moderating
these tools by teachers or skilled professionals to avoid the
reinforcement of stereotypes. As has been stated above,
project design is a critical factor in ensuring balanced
outcomes for young people from the Global North and
Global South.
Gender and ethics
Gender has a decisive impact on ICT access and use, which
must be considered in project design. The data show a clear
gender gap in the use of computers, mobile phones and the
internet, whereby girls are less likely to benefit from the
potential of ICTs (ITU, 2013; UNDP, 2013). A May 2011 study
measuring the population of urban internet users in South
Africa revealed a stark gender gap, reporting approximately
31% of internet users as female, whereas 68% are male
(Beger, 2012). Adolescent girls express concern that they are
unable to take advantage of the benefits offered by ICTs due
to underlying barriers, such as low rates of schooling, early
pregnancy, sexual violence, availability of ICTs in schools and
communities, poverty, discrimination and the heavy burden
of household chores (UNICEF, 2013a; UNICEF, 2013b66
). While
this topic goes beyond the scope of this report, a critical
takeaway is to engage girls and young women in the project
design process to be sure gender dynamics are taken into
account.
Using ICTs as a tool to engage young people carries with it an
important ethical debate related to child security and safety,
particularly relating to younger ages. The spread of ICTs has
exposed young people to new online safety risks referred to
as “cybersafety”. There does not seem to be a uniform set
of rules and regulations that can be applied to youth-ICT
programs in this regard. The review has found that different
organisations have their own policies and procedures for
addressing this issue. Furthermore, it is not clear if all
organisations adopt child safety policies and procedures in
their ICT-enabled youth programs, particularly when it comes
to NGOs that are not child and youth focused by nature. In
the case of Make a Link, efforts to protect child privacy
were one of the major burdens of the program that hindered
communication and overall outcomes.67
However, the risks
of exposing young people to possible harm through revealing
their identities and personal information were treated
seriously. Policies may differ for programs operating within
schools or through informal youth organisations. Either
way, child protection and online safety is a critical issue
that must be considered when designing ICT-enabled youth
engagement programs.

Analysis
Photo: Abraham Conneh/Oxfam

Conclusions
The most significant aspect of this review may be the
importance of asking the questions themselves. ICT, in one
of its varied forms, has become an intrinsic part of day-to-
day life for most young people around the world. When asked
about the difference between online and offline activities,
David Habba of Nigeria concludes: “The truth is, social media
for us is so connected to our offline life that we can hardly
differentiate.”68
Accordingly, any youth engagement program
working on a local or global level must consider the role of
ICTs in achieving its stated objectives. By commissioning
this study, Oxfam Australia is enabling program staff to
gain an in-depth understanding of the issues, challenges
and opportunities that can benefit the program design and
outcomes. Such investigative work related to the use of ICTs
in programming does not seem to be common practice among
similar organisations and initiatives that do not always stop
to ask the explorative questions posed here. This type of
analysis often only comes at the end of the project in the
context of program evaluations and reviews.
The analytical discussion of cases illustrates a range of
options to be considered when planning to use ICTs as a tool
for engaging young people within and between the Global
North and Global South. The key conclusions discussed in the
previous section are summarised below:
Structured flexibility in project design: Youth-led ICT-
enabled programs benefit from flexibility but demonstrate
the importance of an overall program structure that guides
the program towards its objectives. Experience advises heavy
investment in planning and participatory design, working
from smaller pilots and then scaling up based on outcomes.
Global networks require strong project management: Project
staff plays a critical role in facilitating and cultivating
interaction between young people in diverse locations and
ICT contexts. Programs cannot rely solely on the dynamic
nature of the ICT tools themselves, with a need to put
more emphasis on the drivers and users of ICTs and the
programmatic framework in which they operate.
Integrate learning and action: For engagement to be
meaningful, it must be based on an in-depth understanding
of the issues at hand. The inclusion of learning components
in active citizenship programs can empower young people
to develop and lead informed, action-oriented activity in
ways that are meaningful to them. ICTs can play a role in both
learning and action, complementing offline activities that go
beyond a “click” or “post”.
Conclusions

CONCLUSIONS
Plurality in technology, building on existing user patterns
in North and South: ICT-enabled engagement should build
on free, high quality collaboration tools available and
widely used by young people today. Different technologies
should be adapted for distinct purposes and audiences,
with an emphasis on narrowband applications in the South
possibly blended with broadband applications in the North.
Applications should be explored that use and connect
between basic mobile devices prevalent among young
people in the South and smartphones used by young people
in the North. Special measures for rural youth with limited
connectivity must be adopted, in addition to an assessment
of adult ICT skills for school-based programs. Youth ICT
capacity can be an asset in devising creative solutions to
overcome connectivity barriers.
Combining global citizenship education with development
outcomes: North–South youth engagement programs can
provide common and distinct benefits relating to global
citizenship education and development. ICT-enabled programs
based on global project-based learning, and activist network
models that focus on issues of mutual concern to young
people, can integrate these elements successfully when
designed with careful attention to structure, management,
learning, ICT trends, gender and safety.
Figure in gender and cybersafety: The ICT gender gap
demands an assessment of gender-specific issues when
designing ICT-enabled youth engagement programs.
Attention should be paid to ways that ICTs can counter
unequal power relations and increase the participation of
girls in social and economic development. The potential risks
that ICT use can pose to young people should be addressed
by developing child safety policies and measures.
Measuring outcomes: A key area for further exploration is
the monitoring and evaluation of global ICT-enabled youth
engagement programs. There is a need to develop indicators
for measuring outcomes related to the use of ICTs and global
citizenship education, active citizenship initiatives and
campaigns, North–South linking, influence of learning on
behaviour, and others.
This review has affirmed the assertion that ICTs represent
a “new horizon” of global citizenship education and North–
South youth engagement. The mobile usage explosion has
ushered in unprecedented opportunities for amplifying young
people’s voices and engaging young people in discussion
and action to reduce poverty and improve lives. Moreover, the
spread of ICTs has significant implications for building and
enhancing active citizenship among young people both within
and between communities of the Global South and Global
North. The cases have revealed a multitude of opportunities,
challenges, success factors and limitations that all point
to the need for devoting serious attention to the role of ICTs
in the planning, implementation and evaluation of youth
engagement programs.
With this in mind, the study reminds us to maintain a focus
on the broader context of youth participation in poverty
reduction and positive social change. It is within this
framework that ICTs can be used as youth-driven tools that
support and enhance policies, programs and structures
promoting active global citizenship and youth engagement on
local and global levels.

Using ICTs to Facilitate North-South Youth Engagement

Using ICTs to Facilitate North-South Youth Engagement

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