From youth energy to democratic influence
Youth Inspiring Youth for Partnership and Advocacy (YIYPA)
📍 Location: Kampala & Ntungamo Districts, Uganda
🗓 Duration: 2026–2029 (36 months)
🟢 Status: Multi-year Programme
🎯 Focus Areas: Youth civic engagement · Governance & accountability · Youth-led CSOs · Democratic spaces · Advocacy & partnerships
💰 Funder: Civil Society Fund (CISU)
About the programme
One-sentence summary:
YIYPA empowers youth to collectively influence governance and policy by strengthening youth-led organisations, expanding democratic spaces, and connecting civic action with sustainable livelihoods.
At a Glance
YIYPA is a youth-led civic engagement programme activating young people as rights-holders, organisers, and advocates in local governance processes.
Building on proven approaches such as SLOGBAA and Green Democratic Spaces, the programme combines capacity building, civic platforms, digital tools, and cross-district partnerships to enable youth to participate meaningfully in decision-making—especially in the context of the Parish Development Model (PDM) and the 2026 national elections.
The challenge
Uganda is experiencing a profound youth demographic shift, with nearly 80% of the population under 25. Yet youth face:
Limited access to democratic education and governance processes
Shrinking civic space and rising regulatory pressure on CSOs
Weak youth representation in local budgeting and accountability mechanisms
High unemployment, making sustained civic engagement difficult
Deep rural–urban, ethnic, and socioeconomic divides
Despite being the majority, youth voices remain under-represented in decisions that shape their futures.
Our partnership role
Civil Connections Community Foundation (CCCF), together with the Network for Active Citizens (NAC), acts as a facilitator, capacity broker, and connector.
We:
Strengthen youth-led CSOs and youth leadership structures
Support youth to organise, advocate, and hold duty-bearers accountable
Provide safe, inclusive platforms for democratic dialogue
Bridge grassroots youth action with policy spaces and national conversations
What we intentionally do not do:
Speak on behalf of youth
Run parallel political structures
Treat youth as beneficiaries rather than actors
Our working hypotheses
Youth engagement is strongest when capacity, space, and livelihood are addressed together
Peer-to-peer learning builds confidence faster than expert-led training
Safe democratic spaces reduce tensions between rights-holders and duty-bearers
Digital tools expand reach but must be anchored in physical community spaces
Expected outcomes
By the end of the programme:
1,000+ youth actively engage in democratic processes
60+ youth-led CSOs operate from strengthened democratic platforms
90 youth leaders influence Parish Development Model priorities
Youth-led partnerships drive joint advocacy across districts
Youth confidence, agency, and legitimacy in governance spaces increase
Most importantly, youth shift from political spectators to democratic actors.
What we hope will follow this
YIYPA is designed for long-term transformation, not short-term mobilisation.
The programme:
Builds a national pipeline of trained youth facilitators
Anchors democratic participation in permanent youth-led structures
Strengthens youth influence beyond election cycles
Lays foundations for a resilient, youth-led civil society movement
Alignment with Civil Connections’ Theory of Change
YIYPA contributes by:
Strengthening youth agency and leadership
Enabling collective sense-making and action
Supporting locally owned advocacy and accountability
Bridging grassroots realities with policy and systems change
It embodies CCCF’s belief that lasting democratic change is built by those most affected—when they are equipped, connected, and trusted.