17/09/2026
MRU Youth IGF 2026 Kicks Off in Liberia, Bringing Youth Voices From Across the Region to the Center of Digital Transformation
MONROVIA, LIBERIA, September 17, 2026 — The 3rd Annual Mano River Union Youth Internet Governance Forum (MRU Youth IGF) officially gets underway today in Liberia, bringing together young people from across the Mano River Union region for a day of dialogue, learning, networking and action around the digital future of West Africa.
Hosted in Monrovia under the theme “Empowering Youth, Shaping the Digital Future of the Mano River Union,” this year's gathering carries a powerful message: the region's digital transformation cannot be complete without the voices and leadership of its young people.
For several young participants arriving from Sierra Leone and Guinea, today's gathering represents more than another conference. For some, it is their first opportunity to cross a national border to participate directly in a regional Internet governance process.
They have travelled to Liberia not simply as observers, but as young people bringing experiences from their communities, universities, technology spaces and youth networks into a regional conversation.
From Freetown to Monrovia
The journey of the MRU Youth IGF began with its maiden regional edition in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 2024. The platform has since developed into an important space for young people to engage with the issues shaping the region's digital future.
The 2026 edition in Liberia represents another step in that journey.
The official MRU IGF programme identifies digital infrastructure and connectivity, cybersecurity, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, digital rights, media literacy, youth innovation and skills among the region's key priorities.
But behind every one of these policy issues is a young person.
A student who cannot afford enough data to attend an online class.
A young entrepreneur who has the skills but cannot access financing or regional markets.
A young woman facing harassment online.
A graduate searching for digital work.
A young creator using AI but unsure about privacy, copyright or misinformation.
A student outside the capital who has limited access to reliable electricity, devices or high-speed Internet.
These are not abstract policy questions.
They are youth issues.
“We Came Because We Want to Be Part of the Conversation”
The presence of young delegates travelling from Sierra Leone and Guinea gives the 2026 Youth IGF a particularly regional character.
For first-time participants crossing borders to attend the event, the experience itself represents what regional digital cooperation should look like: young people meeting one another, exchanging ideas and discovering that many of their challenges are shared.
The significance goes beyond attendance.
When a young person from Sierra Leone sits beside a young person from Liberia, Guinea or Côte d'Ivoire, the conversation changes from “What is happening in my country?” to “What can we solve together?”
That regional perspective is central to the MRU IGF process.
The Forum brings together the four MRU countries to address shared challenges including limited connectivity, high access costs, cybersecurity capacity, data protection, digital trust, youth employment and weak regional policy coordination.
Why Youth Voices Matter
Young people are among the most active users of digital technologies, but being a digital user does not automatically mean having a voice in digital governance.
That gap matters.
Decisions being made today about AI, data protection, cybersecurity, online platforms, digital identity, connectivity and digital economies will shape the lives and opportunities of today's youth for decades.
The global Internet Governance Forum has increasingly recognized the importance of sustained youth engagement. Its 2026 Youth Track focuses on strengthening youth capacity and participation in multistakeholder approaches to governing digital technologies, including AI.
The same principle applies at the regional level.
A digital transformation designed without young people risks solving problems that young people did not identify, using approaches that may not reflect their realities.
That is why youth participation cannot be reduced to inviting young people to sit in the audience.
Young people need opportunities to:
contribute to policy discussions;
propose solutions;
participate in consultations;
build digital businesses;
develop technology;
influence AI governance;
advocate for digital rights;
shape online safety policies;
participate in cybersecurity initiatives; and
hold institutions accountable for digital commitments.
Liberia's Youth Experience Shows Why the Conversation Matters
Earlier this year, Liberia's Youth IGF highlighted many of the same challenges.
Young participants identified high Internet costs, unreliable electricity, limited school connectivity, digital skills gaps, insufficient innovation opportunities, entrepreneurship challenges and online safety as major barriers to meaningful digital participation.
Those concerns are important because connectivity alone does not guarantee inclusion.
A young person may have access to a smartphone but still lack the data, electricity, skills, safe digital environment or economic opportunities needed to benefit from the Internet.
The regional challenge therefore goes beyond connecting people.
It is about connecting people to opportunity.
Seth Augustine: “Youth Must Be Part of the Process”
For Seth Augustine Jnr., a member of the Liberia MRU Youth IGF Team, helping lead the process toward the 2026 regional Youth IGF has been both a responsibility and a learning experience.
Seth has previously led youth engagement in Liberia's Internet governance process, where he emphasized that young people are among the largest users of digital technologies but remain underrepresented in policy discussions.
Reflecting on the experience of preparing for the regional gathering, Seth said:
“Hosting the MRU Youth IGF in Liberia has shown us that youth participation cannot stop at attending an event. We have to create spaces where young people can bring their real experiences, propose solutions and take part in shaping the policies that affect our digital future.”
He said the regional nature of the event is particularly important because young people across the four countries are experiencing many of the same challenges.
“When young people from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire come together, we begin to see that our challenges are connected. That gives us an opportunity to learn from each other and develop regional solutions instead of addressing every problem separately.”
For Seth, the work of the Youth IGF should not end when the event closes.
“The real success of this Youth IGF will be measured by what happens after today. We want the ideas and recommendations coming from young people to reach policymakers and become part of the wider digital governance conversation.”
From Connectivity to Opportunity
One of the most important questions confronting the region is how to turn digital access into meaningful economic and social opportunity.
The MRU IGF's 2026 programme places youth innovation, digital skills and future jobs alongside infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI and digital rights.
That combination is important.
Young people do not only need access to the Internet. They need pathways from connectivity to skills, skills to opportunity, and opportunity to income and participation.
That means investing in:
Affordable connectivity.
Reliable electricity.
Devices and digital infrastructure.
Digital and AI skills.
Entrepreneurship and innovation.
Access to finance and markets.
Online safety and digital rights.
Youth participation in policy.
Regional digital cooperation.
These priorities are closely aligned with recommendations already emerging from youth Internet governance discussions in Liberia.
The Region Needs Young Digital Leaders
The Mano River Union is a young region, and its digital future will ultimately be built by the generation participating in today's Youth IGF.
They will become entrepreneurs, engineers, policymakers, lawyers, journalists, educators, developers, civil society leaders, researchers and technology innovators.
Some will build companies.
Others will write laws.
Some will develop artificial intelligence systems.
Others will advocate for the rights of people affected by those systems.
That is why today's conversation matters.
The MRU IGF Secretariat has described the Youth IGF as a platform for developing the next generation of digital leaders, innovators and policymakers across the region.
A Regional Youth Voice, Not Four Separate Conversations
The deeper opportunity presented by today's gathering is regional.
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire cannot address every digital challenge independently.
Cyber threats cross borders.
Digital platforms cross borders.
Online businesses cross borders.
Data flows across borders.
AI technologies cross borders.
And young people themselves are increasingly connected across borders.
The response therefore must also become more regional.
The MRU IGF's 2026 agenda reflects this direction through its emphasis on regional coordination, policy alignment and practical implementation.
The Message From Monrovia
As young delegates take their seats today in Monrovia, they bring more than national flags.
They bring experiences.
They bring questions.
They bring ideas.
They bring expectations.
And they bring a demand to be heard.
The MRU Youth IGF therefore represents more than a youth conference.
It is an opportunity to demonstrate what meaningful youth participation in Internet governance can look like.
From Freetown 2024 to Monrovia 2026, the journey continues.
The challenge now is to ensure that the voices heard in this room do not remain in this room.
They must reach ministries, regulators, universities, businesses, technology companies, civil society organizations and regional institutions.
Because the digital future of the Mano River Union will not be built tomorrow.
It is being shaped today.
And the young people gathered in Monrovia are demanding their place in shaping it.
One Region. One Digital Future. Youth Voices at the Center.PHOTOS FLASHBACK - 2024 edition in FEETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
