Advancing youth-led peacebuilding through digital technologies in Africa

The document examines how African youth are transforming peacebuilding through AI and digital tools, shifting from passive consumers to active knowledge creators. It highlights the decentralisation of early warning systems and the use of digital platforms for peace messaging and mobilisation. However, it warns that digital divides, gender gaps, and linguistic biases—where 88% of African languages are ignored by computational tools—threaten to marginalise rural youth and women. The brief notes a disconnect between the AU's Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security and digital strategies, urging for integrated policies and the institutionalisation of youth roles in AI governance to ensure digital peacebuilding is ethical and inclusive.

• African youth are shifting the paradigm of peacebuilding from centralised, elite-led systems to decentralised, youth-led networks. They use digital tools for early warning, such as the Ushahidi platform in Kenya, and AI-driven fact-checking tools like iVerify, which was piloted in Zambia and expanded to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
• Youth act as 'knowledge agents' by integrating local context and languages into AI tools to improve the detection of hate speech and misinformation. This is critical because a vast majority of African languages are neglected by global AI; of over 2,000 spoken languages, only 49 are available on Google Translate, and 88% are ignored by computational tools.
• Digital platforms enable youth to bypass traditional gatekeepers to shape peace narratives and mobilise for political action. Examples include the use of X (formerly Twitter) by Kenyan youth to engage the president during the #FinanceBillKenya and the use of social media in Nigeria to channel the #EndSARS protests into non-violent demonstrations.
• Significant digital divides threaten the legitimacy of digital peacebuilding. In 2024, only 38% of Africans used the internet compared to 68% globally. This gap is further widened by gender, with women 12% less likely to use the internet than men (31% vs 43% in 2024), and by geography, as 57% of users are urban while only 23% are rural.
• Existing policy frameworks in Africa often treat digital transformation and youth peace and security (YPS) as separate tracks. The AU's Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security (CFYPS) focuses on traditional interventions and contains little mention of digital technology or cybersecurity.
• National-level AI and YPS policies are limited. Only Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Malawi, and Burundi have adopted a YPS National Action Plan (NAP), and these typically omit a technology lens. However, Nigeria's draft National AI Strategy (2023–2024) aims to equip 70% of its young workforce (ages 16–35) with AI skills.

APA

Liaga, E. A. (2025). Advancing youth-led peacebuilding through digital technologies in Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1762252900988-policy-brief-203.pdf

Chicago

Liaga, Emmaculate Asige. Advancing youth-led peacebuilding through digital technologies in Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2025. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1762252900988-policy-brief-203.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Liaga |first1=Emmaculate Asige |title=Advancing youth-led peacebuilding through digital technologies in Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2025 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1762252900988-policy-brief-203.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{liaga2025advancing, author = {Liaga, Emmaculate Asige}, title = {{Advancing youth-led peacebuilding through digital technologies in Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2025}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1762252900988-policy-brief-203.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }