Innovative youth-focused digital platform launched with the aim of unifying thousands of young people across South Africa
In On Africa (IOA), in collaboration with JET Education Services and various partners have launched a game-changing digital platform in response to the shift in awareness of the youth in South Africa and the need for these future leaders to become empowered to inform decision-making for a brighter future. 
The ‘Voices Unite’ platform, which launched on the 10th of February, will bring together tens of thousands of youth aged 18-34 through a large-scale national research study focusing on a wide range of pertinent topics. 
Youth who participate on the platform stand the chance to win a wide range of prizes, ranging from small incentives like data, event tickets and gift vouchers to larger prizes like tech gadgets, bursaries, internship positions and R50,000 cash.
Voices Unite believes that a platform to unify and amplify the voices of the country’s youth – their views, ideas and dynamism – can inform true change in South Africa. 
Voices Unite aims to achieve the following core objectives:
1.       Unify and empower youth in South Africa to become meaningfully involved in the creation of a better South Africa.
2.       Facilitate more active, collaborative engagement between SA corporates, non-profits, education institutions and government.
3.       Inform data-driven decision-making today to ensure a brighter tomorrow for the entire country.
According to Voices Unite Founder, Jonathan Mundell:
“IOA conceptualised Voices Unite in an effort to empower young people in South Africa, and ultimately across the African continent. Research that our firm has been doing for more than a decade has led us our belief that bringing youth and key stakeholders together – on a massive scale – to voice their ideas, perspectives and concerns, is essential to ensure effective decision-making.
Voices Unite aims not only to unify youth across South Africa, but to also bring relevant decision-makers to the same table, to collaborate in their efforts to address the various challenges that young people face. And for this collaboration to be guided by the views and insights of the youth, and for decisions to be made together with the youth – not on their behalf.”
CEO at JET Education Services, James Keevy, adds:
“Digital innovations have the power to solve some of the challenges of meaningful youth engagement. JET Education Services is very excited to partner with Voices Unite as the lead  research partner, guiding data analytics and the development of surveys. The Voices Unite platform is an exciting avenue for young people, unifying them together through a shared voice. The idea is to generate a hub of knowledge and research about the youth, by the youth.
JET is an independent non-profit organisation specialising in education research, monitoring and evaluation, and implementation. Our mission is to impact education policy and implementation in South Africa and Africa through rethinking current education systems through evidence-based research. We'd like to congratulate everyone involved in getting Voices Unite off the ground, and we’re looking forward to learning more about the youth in our country, directly from the youth themselves”.
Voices Unite has more than 60 confirmed partners, ranging from impact-driven youth development organisations (e.g. Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, SAB Foundation and Mr Price Foundation), through to large corporates like Sanlam, agencies such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), public and private universities and colleges, and various others partners.
For anyone interested in joining Voices Unite either as a youth participant (age range is 18-34) or a partner, more information is available at http://voicesunite.co.za. You can also contact the founder of Voices Unite, Jonathan Mundell, at jonathan@inonafrica.com.
 

 See Voices Unite infographic

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