Young Leaders Network

Young Leaders Network Raising Leaders, Transforming Nations
At YLN, we are dedicated to inspiring and empowering young leaders across Africa.

Join us in transforming communities and creating lasting change The young leaders network (YLN) is a network of passionate young people with the mission of building a platform where young people are empowered and engaged for social and community development.

Young Leaders Network, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy , is consistently creating spaces where c...
23/09/2026

Young Leaders Network, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy , is consistently creating spaces where citizens can speak, ask questions and engage with the institutions responsible for their communities.

Through the Project: Citizens in Action, the My LGA and I Forum in Toro gave citizens an opportunity to respond to the stewardship report presented on behalf of the Executive Chairman and raise concerns around school security, youth employment, security support, drug abuse, streetlights, water, drainage and citizen feedback.

The conversation showed that development is not only about projects announced, but also about what citizens experience every day and whether their voices are heard. What happens after citizens speak matters. Their concerns should be documented, communicated to the relevant authorities and followed up.

Residents of Toro, what should be prioritised in your community?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

See it. Ask questions. Track it.

We are not just building platforms for citizens to speak. We are building spaces where citizens and their local governme...
23/09/2026

We are not just building platforms for citizens to speak. We are building spaces where citizens and their local government can listen, explain and identify priorities together.

Through the My LGA and I Forum in Toro LGA, Young Leaders Network, under the Project: Citizens in Action, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy, brought citizens, community representatives, women, young people, religious leaders and government officials together to review the administration’s stewardship and discuss community needs.

Citizens raised concerns around unemployment, school facilities, security, drug abuse, roads, streetlights, water and drainage, religious inclusion, feedback channels and equitable access to employment opportunities. The LGA delegation also presented its stewardship report and highlighted efforts to identify community priorities through the Community Charter of Demand and public budget hearings.

Accountability is not only about confrontation. It is about creating room for citizens to speak, leaders to explain and both sides to work towards practical solutions. The conversation has begun. Now, the concerns raised must be documented, communicated and followed through.

International Day of Peace reminds us that peace is everyone’s responsibility. 🕊️This year’s theme, “Invest in Peace, Fo...
21/09/2026

International Day of Peace reminds us that peace is everyone’s responsibility. 🕊️

This year’s theme, “Invest in Peace, For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day,” calls on us to build communities where young people can participate, speak up, feel included, and contribute to positive change.

Peace is built through dialogue, inclusion, understanding, and collective action. As young people, we all have a role to play in creating communities where everyone can thrive.

Let’s invest in peace, for everyone, everywhere, every day.

🚨 42% OVERALL STATE EXPENDITURE, BUT WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION?Bauchi State recorded ₦450.0B in spending, representing 34% bu...
20/09/2026

🚨 42% OVERALL STATE EXPENDITURE, BUT WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION?

Bauchi State recorded ₦450.0B in spending, representing 34% budget implementation, compared to 42% overall state expenditure.

💭 What do you think about the difference between education budget implementation and overall state expenditure? Do you think the funds have been effectively utilized, or are there still gaps that need to be addressed?

🗣️ Your thoughts are needed! Share your perspective on education spending and government accountability.

🔎 Want to track government spending and hold leaders accountable? Visit mygovwatch.ng

Explore the data and stay inform
Bauchi State Ministry of Education
Malala Fund
National Endowment for Democracy

When young people lead, the future takes shape. 🌍Together, we are shaping the future, one empowered leader at a time. 🤝D...
19/09/2026

When young people lead, the future takes shape. 🌍

Together, we are shaping the future, one empowered leader at a time. 🤝

Do you agree ?

Share your thoughts in the comments! 💬

Learn more about our work 👉 youngleadersnet.org

What should government prioritise when planning the next state budget? 👀💰The people who live in communities across Nasar...
18/09/2026

What should government prioritise when planning the next state budget? 👀💰

The people who live in communities across Nasarawa State have a lot to say about that.

Yesterday, Young Leaders Network joined about 200 citizens and stakeholders from all 13 Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State at the Citizens’ Budget Town Hall Engagement organised by the Nasarawa State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

The engagement created a space for citizens, CSOs, youth groups, People with Disabilities, community stakeholders and government officials to discuss the state’s finances, budget priorities and the issues that matter most to communities.

Participants first received an overview of the previous state budget, including government revenue, expenditure, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and Federal Allocation, helping to provide context for the discussions that followed.

Then came the important part. 👀

Participants were divided into eight groups to identify priority areas and make recommendations for the forthcoming state budget.

YLN contributed to the Education and Human Capital Development discussion, highlighting some of the challenges facing education in Nasarawa State and the need for stronger investment in educational infrastructure, teachers, learning resources and human capital development.

Because a budget is not just a document filled with figures.

It reflects the priorities that government chooses to invest in, and citizens should have a voice in shaping those priorities.

For YLN, engagements like this are an important part of strengthening citizen participation, accountability, transparency and inclusive governance.

When citizens are given the opportunity to speak, share their experiences and make recommendations, budgeting becomes more responsive to the needs of the people it is meant to serve.

And that is the kind of conversation we want to keep building. 🤝🏾
National Endowment for Democracy

What happens when conversations about gender and inclusion move from ideas to action? 👀Young Leaders Network attended t...
17/09/2026

What happens when conversations about gender and inclusion move from ideas to action? 👀

Young Leaders Network attended the Gender and Inclusion Summit 2026 (GS-26) in Abuja, a platform bringing together policymakers, innovators, researchers, development practitioners, civil society leaders and other changemakers to advance gender equality and social inclusion.

This year’s summit was centred on the theme “From Agenda to Action: Making Innovations Count for the Last Mile,” with a focus on ensuring that policies, innovations and commitments translate into meaningful outcomes for people and communities who are often left behind.

The summit was built around six high-impact forums covering Gender-Based Violence, Economic Inclusion, Health, Innovation, Inclusive Digital Transformation, and Security. These forums created spaces for stakeholders to examine pressing challenges, share evidence, explore new ideas and identify practical ways to turn solutions into action.

As part of the GS-26 programme, the Malala Fund had Fireside Special Session that featured a panel on “Education Ends Child Marriage: From Evidence to Action in Nigeria’s Northwest and Northeast,” where the Permanent Secretary of the Bauchi State Ministry of Education, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim, represented the state. He committed that Bauchi State would launch its Gender in Education Policy, including school re-entry guidelines for married and pregnant adolescents, before the end of September. The Ministry also plans to work with community leaders and schools to document girls in and out of school, using the data to strengthen enrolment in communities with low enrolment.

From conversations around expanding economic opportunities for women and young people, to improving access to health services, advancing digital inclusion, strengthening innovation and building safer, more inclusive communities, GS-26 brought different perspectives together around a shared question:

How do we make inclusion work in practice, especially for those at the last mile?

For YLN, these conversations are especially relevant to the work we do with young people, women, girls and underserved communities. Inclusion is not just about having the right policies on paper. It is also about asking whether those policies, resources, opportunities and innovations are actually reaching the people they are designed to serve.

The Summit was also an opportunity for YLN to learn, connect, exchange ideas and engage with other actors working to advance more inclusive and equitable systems.

We’re taking the conversations, connections and lessons from GS-26 back into the work we do to support more inclusive communities.

Because the goal is not just to talk about inclusion.

It is to make it work. 💙

JOINT MONITORING MISSION: OUR FIRST STOP IN DASS LGABefore visiting project sites across Dass Local Government Area, our...
17/09/2026

JOINT MONITORING MISSION: OUR FIRST STOP IN DASS LGA

Before visiting project sites across Dass Local Government Area, our joint monitoring team began at the Dass Local Government Council.

We met with the Acting Director of Budget and Planning, Mr Yakubu Bala, and the Head of Administration and General Services, Bala Muhammad Basi, to understand the council’s development priorities, ongoing projects and challenges affecting implementation.

During the engagement, water and road infrastructure were identified as major priorities for the LGA, with particular reference to the ongoing Dass Township Road and the ACReSAL project.

One concern repeatedly raised was the vandalisation of public facilities and the continued dependence on government for even basic maintenance. The council called for stronger community sensitisation and greater local ownership of public infrastructure.

The officials also welcomed continued citizen-led monitoring and expressed interest in participating in the upcoming My LGA and I Forum, which would create a direct platform for citizens and local government representatives to discuss development needs, project implementation and community concerns.

This engagement was important because effective project monitoring does not begin and end at the project site. It also requires:

• understanding what was budgeted and prioritised;
• engaging the institutions responsible for implementation;
• documenting official explanations; and
• comparing those explanations with what citizens and monitors find on the ground.

Community ownership can help protect public infrastructure, but it does not replace the responsibility of government and contractors to deliver safe, functional and sustainable projects.

Under the project, Young Leaders Network with support from National Endowment for Democracy, alongside representative of the Bauchi State Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Bauchi State Ministry of Education and Civil Society Partners, recently conducted Joint Project Monitoring Missions across Dass, Ganjuwa, Gamawa and Bauchi Local Government Areas.

In our next updates, we will take you to the individual project sites visited in Dass; and show what the budget records say compared with what we found.

Visit https://www.mygovwatch.ng to nominate or track a government project in your community.

See it. Ask it. Track it.

Do you know a project can be approved in the budget without the funds being released?Funds can be released without the p...
17/09/2026

Do you know a project can be approved in the budget without the funds being released?

Funds can be released without the project being completed. And a project can be marked “completed” while the community still cannot use it. This is why citizen monitoring matters.

Under the project, Young Leaders Network, with support from National Endowment for Democracy, alongside representative of the Bauchi State Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Bauchi State Ministry of Education and Civil Society Partners, recently conducted Joint Project Monitoring Missions across Dass, Ganjuwa, Gamawa and Bauchi Local Government Areas.

The missions brought together our Accountability Champions, GovWatch Fellows, government representatives and community members to visit project sites, compare budget information with physical implementation, speak with intended beneficiaries and document:

• the amount budgeted and released, where available;
• the actual stage and quality of work;
• whether completed facilities are functional;
• challenges affecting implementation; and
• what community members experience beyond what official records show.

Over the coming weeks, we will share our findings one project at a time, including relevant budget figures, photographs from the sites, community feedback and the questions that still require answers.

This is also the purpose of GovWatch, our citizen-nominated project-tracking platform. Through GovWatch, citizens can nominate projects in their communities and follow what happens from allocation to implementation.

Because public projects are funded with public resources; and citizens deserve to know what was promised, what was spent and what was delivered.

Visit https://www.mygovwatch.ng to nominate or track a project in your community.

See it. Ask it. Track it.

Bauchi allocated ₦131.7 billion to education in 2026, but by the end of Q2, only ₦45.0 billion had been spent, 34.2% imp...
16/09/2026

Bauchi allocated ₦131.7 billion to education in 2026, but by the end of Q2, only ₦45.0 billion had been spent, 34.2% implementation, compared with 42.6% for overall State expenditure.

Today, Young Leaders Network, with support from Malala Fund, convened education stakeholders for the Bauchi State Q2 Education Budget Performance Review.

The review also showed that:
• The Ministry of Education reached 43.7% implementation, while Higher Education stood at 20.7%.
• Basic Education recorded 42.8% implementation, but the programme for access, retention and completion was only 9.7%.
• ₦16.58 billion was identified across the education budget line items reviewed, helping stakeholders examine what is being funded and how implementation is progressing.
• Several lines linked to WASH, school safety, disability inclusion and safeguarding still require stronger implementation.

Our questions remain simple: What is being funded? Where? Who benefits? How many learners are reached? And what results are being delivered?

Explore the data at https://www.eduspendng.com/

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