13/08/2026
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2026 STATEMENT BY THE SOUTH-SOUTH SGBV INFO HUB
Theme: Different Contexts, Common Aspiration
Issued by: The South-South SGBV Information Hub on the 12th of August 2026
Young people in the South-South region of Nigeria are growing up in different contexts, in coastal communities facing
climate displacement, in oil-bearing areas with economic volatility, in urban centers with cultism and
trafficking, and in rural communities where harmful norms persist. Yet across all six states of Akwa
Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers, they share one common aspiration: to live free
from violence, with dignity, safety, and opportunity.
This International Youth Day, the South-South SGBV Information Hub shines a light on a hard truth:
youth face a staggering burden of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, but their contexts are often
missing from policy, and their voices are rarely at the center of advocacy.
In too many spaces, young survivors are blamed for what has happened to them. In the African and
Nigerian context, we see it daily, a young girl violated and then shamed. A young boy exploited and
then called “wayward.” A student harassed and then told “that’s just how it is.” Victim-blaming replaces
accountability. Silence replaces support. This results in under-reporting, stigma, and cycles of violence
that continue because the systems designed to protect young people do not reflect their realities.
Different contexts; Same harm:
• In schools and online: Cyber harassment, s*xual exploitation, and peer pressure amplified by
social media.
• In communities: Early and forced marriage, transactional s*x driven by poverty, and harmful
traditional practices.
• In conflict and crisis settings: Displacement, cultism, and recruitment into violence that
increases risk for both young women and young men.
• In the workplace and public spaces: Sexual harassment, abuse of power, and limited access
to justice or safe reporting channels.
• In electoral and political processes and politics: Violence, threat of violence, exclusion,
exploitation and intimidation
These are not “youth problems.” They are structural problems. And they demand structural responses.
Our Common Aspiration
The youth of the South-South are not asking for pity. They are asking to be heard, protected, and
included. Their aspiration is clear: a South-South region, and a Nigeria, where no young person has to
choose between silence and safety.
For this year’s International Youth Day, the South-South SGBV Information Hub calls on all SGBV actors,
government, CSOs, traditional and religious leaders, the media, and development partners:
1. Recognize the different contexts in which youth experience SGBV across our region and design
interventions that speak directly to those realities.
2. Center youth voices and leadership in policy design, data collection, and advocacy
3. End victim-blaming and stigma through education, community dialogue, and enforcement of
laws like the VAPP Act and Child Rights Law.
4. Invest in prevention through economic empowerment, Sexual Reproductive Health Rights
education, mental health support, and safe digital spaces.
5. Strengthen data and referral systems that are youth-friendly, confidential, and accessible in all
six South-South states.
The South-South SGBV Information Hub, a coalition of CSOs across the region facilitated by GADA,
remains committed to documenting the experiences of youth and young people, and amplifying young
people’s perspectives and solutions to SGBV. When we include youth in the conversation, we don’t just
respond to SGBV. We prevent it.
This International Youth Day, let us move from blaming young people to listening to them. From
ignoring their context to designing advocacy actions and policies with their context.
Signed,
Inyingi Irimagha
Coordinator, South-South SGBV Information Hub,
Supported by Gender and Development Action - GADA
