COVID-19 and the youth question in Africa: impact, response, and protection measures in the IGAD region (COYOQA)

This project will not only analyze how young people are affected by COVID-19, it will examine how they can be key actors in the response, mitigation, and evaluation efforts of pandemic policies and actions. It aims to ensure that emerging policies are responsive and promote inclusive governance and accountability by seeking to investigate how social accountability can be factored into COVID-19 responses in three member states (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda) of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc of eight member states in the Horn of Africa. The project focuses on enabling youth-driven documentation of reliable, contextually grounded local data analysis and rapid feedback to local and national authorities and to communities through the development of a citizen-led performance monitoring framework. The focus is on informing policies and decision-making to mitigate the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and prevent its re-emergence. This project will support youth-led policy influence and encourage the use of research evidence to improve community responses to impacts of COVID-19 and build resilience. By providing rapid support to ongoing work, innovating new ways of learning and sharing, and enhancing capacities to inform current and future policy and practice solutions, the project aims to strengthen the overall governance of the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath. Ultimately, the project seeks to contribute towards strengthening the social contract and fostering democratic peace in pandemic and post-crisis responses.