From Being Heard to Taking Action: Young People Find Their Voice in Voices for Change
Updated: Sep 30
Young people are often described as the future. But what happens when we give them the space to shape the present?
This question sits at the heart of Voices for Change: Empowering Youth and Civil Society for Inclusive Prevention and Reintegration, a four-year programme funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Coordinated by the World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD), the programme brings together civil society organisations across the region to strengthen inclusive prevention and reintegration approaches, with young people playing a central role.
In Tanzania, C-Sema is implementing the programme as part of the consortium, working to create meaningful opportunities for young people to build their skills, contribute to prevention efforts, and have a voice in issues affecting their communities.
One of the key ways the programme achieves this is through the establishment of a Youth Advisory Board (YAB). The response to the initiative was overwhelming: more than 300 young people applied for the 25-member Board, resulting in 13 passionate youth selected from Mainland Tanzania and 12 from Zanzibar. Their interest was encouraging, but perhaps even more telling was what they had to say once they came together.
"We Want to Be Included"
They were not simply asking to be given opportunities, they were asking to be trusted with them. “We want to be included in the decision-making processes,” noted Mansur Salum, a YAB member, echoing a sentiment shared across the room.
During their three-day YAB training, young people reflected on what meaningful participation actually looks like. Young people are often the demographic most directly affected by decisions made around substance use, prevention, education, health, and community wellbeing. Yet, as the YAB members reflected, being affected by a problem does not always mean being included in conversations about how to address it.
For these young people, participation means more than being invited to an event or consulted after decisions have already been made. They want to be part of the process from the beginning: to contribute ideas, challenge assumptions, and help shape solutions.
But another powerful perspective emerged during the training: young people cannot always wait to be invited. Some participants challenged the very idea that change begins only when someone gives them permission to participate.
As YAB member Faiza Nassor powerfully expressed, “Young people must not wait to be involved, but take steps into the change they want to see.” If there is a problem they can see and something they believe they can do about it, why wait?
Stop Waiting for the Opportunity
The conversation also turned inward, challenging the youth to take ownership of their paths. Opportunities do not always arrive at the doorstep; sometimes, they have to be actively sought out.
Faith Mkony, the lead facilitator, challenged the group with a vital observation: “Sometimes young people wait for opportunities to come to them instead of researching the opportunities, especially during these digital times where accessibility has been made easier.”
This reflection met with resounding agreement from the board members. It served as a reminder that agency is also about initiative. You do not always have to wait for someone to create a platform for you, sometimes, you can create one yourself.
From Conversations to Action
The training was designed to build knowledge and life skills, including a deeper understanding of prevention and substance use disorders (SUD). But the real measure of the three days is what happens beyond the training room. The YAB members are already thinking ahead.
As part of their work together, the youth created their own leadership structures to guide how the Board will operate and collaborate. More importantly, instead of asking, “What resources do we need before we can start?”, the young people began asking, “What can we do with what we already have?”
This shift in mindset puts action immediately within reach. The YAB members began planning a number of grassroots activities that do not require immediate funding, including:
Initiating conversations and sharing information within their peer groups.
Creating safe spaces to discuss substance use and prevention.
Connecting vulnerable youth to available services and opportunities.
Leveraging digital platforms to reach a wider audience.
Starting small and building momentum from there.
Not every solution needs to begin with a large budget. Sometimes, it begins with people who are willing to organise themselves and take the first step.
The Beginning, Not the End
For the YAB members, the three days were about recognising that the learning does not end when the training does. They are now taking the skills they gained, leadership, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, initiative, and self-awareness, back into their communities and personal lives.
This is particularly important when working on substance use disorders and prevention. Young people are not simply an audience for prevention messages. They can be active participants in creating conversations that are relevant to their peers, challenging stigma, identifying risks, and connecting others to support.
The YAB training may have lasted three days, but the conversations it started are much bigger. Through Voices for Change, C-Sema and its consortium partners are creating the space for participation, but the young people are bringing the ideas, the questions, and the willingness to act.
Now, they are taking those ideas beyond the training room and into their communities. And that is where the real work begins.
Prepared by C-Sema's Communications Team.
