We’ve recently discovered some of the fantastic youth-oriented African programming provided by Plan’s Youth Media and Development Program.

Kids Waves, funded by Nokia, is one example:

Kids Waves is a regional radio project hosted by children in 10 West African countries that helps them to make their voices heard and to learn about issues relevant to them.

In the town of Kongoussi in Burkina Faso, many births are not registered, depriving children of access to the national health and education systems and, more importantly, to protection from illegal trafficking to neighboring agricultural regions. A Kids Waves broadcast inspired a youth group to canvass the town to verify that children in each family were registered and to assist parents in completing registration formalities.

The YMDP program also made progress by hosting the Media and Development Forum in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 2008.

Finally, have a look at the intriguing “Virtual Village” website for Nyalakot Uganda.

Thanks to Gina Robbins for contributing to this post.