Bridging the Gap: INCLUDE Unveils Public Policy Guide to Empower Young Nigerians
By Matthew Eloyi
A youth-led organisation, Inclusive Development (INCLUDE), has launched the Change-Maker’s Public Policy Guide, a resource designed to equip young Nigerians with the knowledge and skills needed to engage effectively in governance, public policy and accountability processes.
The guide was unveiled in Abuja on Friday at the culmination of a five-week intensive capacity-building programme aimed at amplifying the voices of young people in public policy development and civic engagement.
Speaking at the launch, Executive Director of Inclusive Development, Bukola Taiwo, said the initiative was conceived to address the disconnect between young people’s desire to influence governance and their understanding of how policy systems work.
“What informed this was the obvious gap and divide. Young people want to engage the system, but they don’t know how,” she said.
According to Taiwo, the programme trained 20 young participants on various aspects of public policy, governance and accountability, with 17 of them successfully developing policy briefs on issues of concern to their communities and the nation.
She explained that the participants collectively developed the Change-Maker’s Public Policy Guide to serve as a practical tool for young Nigerians seeking to understand and navigate policy processes at both sub-national and national levels.
“The programme was about amplifying the voices of young persons on public policies and training them to be able to engage the systems of governance and accountability,” she said.
“The participants came together to co-create the Change-Maker’s Public Policy Guide. This is to help Change-Makers across Nigeria understand the policy processes in the country and how to work across different levels of government, challenge the system, engage the system and contribute to the system.”
Taiwo noted that the training covered key aspects of public policy formulation and advocacy, including policy research, systems thinking, power mapping, problem analysis and strategic storytelling.
She said participants were introduced to tools such as the systems change pyramid, power mapping frameworks and problem analysis trees to strengthen their capacity to analyse policy challenges and develop evidence-based solutions.
The programme also explored how storytelling can be used to shape public narratives and influence policy conversations.
Inclusive Development, popularly known as INCLUDE, organised the initiative with support from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund and the Amandla Institute for Leadership and Policy Advancement.
Taiwo said the organisation remains committed to empowering young people, particularly those from marginalised communities, to participate meaningfully in governance and development processes.
Inclusive Development is a youth-led organisation focused on promoting equity, peace and justice through initiatives that empower underserved populations. The organisation works at the intersection of governance, peacebuilding and gender justice to advance sustainable development in Nigeria and across Africa.
Stakeholders at the event described the guide as a timely intervention that could help strengthen youth participation in policymaking and bridge the gap between citizens and governance institutions.