Mobile Phone and Social Media Interventions for Youth Development Outcomes

"The increasing ability of communities to access information via mobiles can be used to address political or social concerns, with youth playing a leading role. Mobile phones create channels of cooperation, dialogue and information exchange between young people and their communities."

This report discusses how interventions have leveraged mobile phone technology and social media to improve a range of youth development outcomes, from governance, to health, to employment. Drawing on published reports, evaluations, and papers, the review explores how the "upsurge in ICT usage has had a direct impact on increasing civic engagement among youth, providing new avenues through which they are informed, shape opinions, organise, collaborate and take action." While challenges related to access, equity, socio-political factors, and gender remain, and there is a need for more rigorous research and evaluation to better understand impact, the case studies illustrate how mobile phones and social media are being used to impact youth outcomes.

The report first outlines how increasing access to information and communication technology (ICT) via mobiles is being used to address political or social concerns, with youth playing a leading role. This focuses on leveraging ICT to enhance dialogue and understanding, with particular attention on improved youth development outcomes related to governance, service delivery, promoting positive social norms and behaviour change, and humanitarian responses. A number of challenges, barriers, and opportunities are highlighted. For example, access remains a challenge for some youth, particularly young rural females and those living in geographically remote locations. As a result, if not thoughtfully used, ICTs can in fact "replicate and potentially exacerbate existing inequalities, including those related to gender, class, race, disability, age and other forms of identity."

The report also discusses and provides examples of the positive impact of ICTs on youth outcomes. Mobile phones and social media alone cannot ensure political will related to youth outcomes, but can be powerful enablers of "youth engagement in governance decisions in processes of participation, deliberation, priority setting, and monitoring." In general, mobile phones and social media offer youth an opportunity to obtain and access information, as well as enable governments to better understand the status, needs, and potential of youth. Mobile phones and social media also provide new opportunities for accessing education and job opportunities, as well as accessing information and enhancing their agency.

The final sections share information about specific contexts and case studies from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and West Africa. For example, case studies from Kenya include Sauti Mtaani, a web-based platform designed to facilitate civic engagement between youth and their local elected representatives, as well as Map Kibera, which "engages young people, particularly young women and girls, in the participatory digital mapping of risks and vulnerabilities in their community, Africa's largest slum." In Nigeria, the Learning about Living (LaL) project involved the development and implementation of an e-learning system and mobile app based on the Nigerian Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) curriculum. Another example provided is the use of mHealth initiatives during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2015. "Youth-turned-social mobilisers in West Africa played a leadership role in the Ebola response, using social media tools on their mobile phones to stay connected and spread awareness about Ebola prevention in communities. The system was able to tell a story and support discussions on operational responses based on changing data trends."

Based on the case studies reviewed, it was found that there are widespread, promising early findings from various projects that demonstrate the potential impact of mobile phone technology and social media on youth outcomes. However, there is little comprehensive research or rigorous evaluation, and few evaluations of youth programmes in developing countries unambiguously identify the causality from policy to programme. As such, "many (youth) programmes fall into the category of promising but unproven."