DESPLAY – Democracy Series: Participation – Learning and Active Youths (DESPLAY) is a knowledge based and an activity oriented youth program that brings together youths from West Africa to deepen their democracy knowledge and foster active youth participation in good governance processes. Since 2005, DESPLAY has directly trained over 300 youths from Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. And over 3000 youths have indirectly benefitted from its peer education component called Passing it On (PiO).
If you are a young person excited about deepening democracy and also connecting with your peers from different locations across Africa on democracy and youth participation then this program is for you. If you are an organization interested in investing in promoting democracy and good governance in Africa, this is a well tested and unique program you can partner with and expand to reach more people. DESPLAY Africa has huge potentials for the African region yet to be explored, your funding and partnership can make a huge difference.
How a DESPLAY Africa Project operates
DESPLAY Africa comprises (3) semesters of training, scheduled to take place every 3 or 4 months in a different location of Nigeria to complete the year long program. Each semester lasts 4 days and is designed to cover a particular theme. For instance, DESPLAY semester 1 focuses on “Understanding Democracy and Good Governance”. Semester 2 focuses on “Participation of young people in governance processes”. Semester 3 focuses on “Leadership and Future Aspirations”.
Other DESPLAY Components:
a) PiOs.
Passing it On is the peer education component of DESPLAY that requires each participant to conduct a mandatory step down and information sharing for a minimum of 25 youths in his or her locality within 6 weeks after a semester. A reporting format ensures good evaluation of PiO and only those whose PiOs are approved are invited to attend the next semester! For those who love peer activism and leadership roles, PiOs are one such platform, as a matter of fact, many DESPLAYers have used PiOs to build reputation in community organizing and starting up their own youth organizations or companies!
b) Legislative Internship:
One of the key components of a democracy is the separation of powers thus providing for different arms of government including the legislature. DESPLAY Legislative Internship provides a rare opportunity for selected participants of DESPLAY to experience governance at that level for a 3 weeks duration and share experiences on how young people can bridge the gap between the governed and the government.
c) Learning Visit:
DESPLAY Learning Visit is a 10 days working visit to another democracy to share democracy and governance experiences between youths of different nations, it also allows for interaction with different sectors of the host country. During the 10 day visits, the team interacts with the press, parliament, business leaders, community leaders and related government agencies. Ghana has been a preferred choice of visit in recent years.
d) Community Service:
Each semester, members of DESPLAY conduct a community outreach during which they identify an area and decide what to do for the community. It is used for foster the spirit of volunteerism and also bridge the gap between youths of different class and backgrounds.
e) DESPLAY Republic:
Many young people are unawares of the processes and rigour of conducting an election or contesting for an elective post. Thus, in every semester 2, a presidential election is conducted for DESPLAY participants who use the Nigeria electoral guideline to conduct the election, following the entire processes. So far, 4 DESPLAY Republic Presidents have emerged with Maxwell Ogaga as the current DESPLAY Republic President.
f) YoungEls Magazine
Young and Emerging Leaders (Young Els) is magazine published twice a year to capture the different activities, experiences and impact DEESPLAY is recording across the African region. Young Els gives voice and visibility to young people’s involvement in democratization and leadership in Africa
DESPLAY Africa has been funded annually by National Endowment for Democracy Washington DC – USA, since 2005 investing over $200,000 so far. For more updates on DESPLAY Africa, please visit our website for periodic update. DESPLAY Season 5 is ongoing and application for DESPLAY Africa Season 6 is scheduled to be announced in November 2010.
