Leading research firm In On Africa (IOA) has launched a game-changing digital platform in response to the shift in awareness of the youth in South Africa and the need for these future leaders to become empowered to inform decision-making for a brighter future.
The ‘Voice Unite’ platform, which launched on the 10th of February, will bring together tens of thousands of youth aged 18-34 through a large-scale national research study focusing on a wide range of pertinent topics. These topics include the state of education, youth unemployment, the future of work, media and technology, infrastructure, healthcare and many others.
Voices Unite believes that a platform to unify and amplify the voices of the country’s youth – their views, ideas and dynamism – can inform true change in South Africa. Voices Unite aims to achieve the following core objectives:
- Unify and empower youth in South Africa to become meaningfully involved in the creation of a better South Africa.
- Facilitate more active, collaborative engagement between SA corporates, non-profits, education institutions and government.
- Inform data-driven decision-making today to ensure a brighter tomorrow for the entire country.
Youth who participate on the platform stand the chance to win a wide range of prizes, ranging from small incentives like data, event tickets and gift vouchers to larger prizes like tech gadgets, bursaries, internship positions and R50,000 cash.
According to Voices Unite Founder, Jonathan Mundell: “IOA conceptualised Voices Unite in an effort to empower young people in South Africa, and ultimately across the African continent. Research that our firm has been doing for more than a decade has led us our belief that bringing youth and key stakeholders together – on a massive scale – to voice their ideas, perspectives and concerns, is essential to ensure effective decision-making. Voices Unite aims not only to unify youth across South Africa, but to also bring relevant decision-makers to the same table, to collaborate in their efforts to address the various challenges that young people face. And for this collaboration to be guided by the views and insights of the youth, and for decisions to be made together with the youth – not on their behalf.”
Voices Unite has more than 60 confirmed partners, ranging from impact-driven youth development organisations (e.g. Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, SAB Foundation and Mr Price Foundation), through to large corporates like Sanlam, agencies such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), public and private universities and colleges, and various others partners.
For anyone interested in joining Voices Unite either as a youth participant (age range is 18-34) or a partner, more information is available at http://voicesunite.co.za.
