Since 2009 LYNX – Linking the Youth of Nigeria through Exchange – has been a partner of Aflatoun International. The national child and youth development organisation empowers children and young people to become socially and financially responsible citizens who can strengthen their communities and nation.

Aflatoun Child Rights Cooperative Project

One of LYNX’s ongoing programmes, in both Kaduna and Enugu state, is the Aflatoun Child Rights Cooperatives (ACRC) project, which is implemented in collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages. At the start of the project activities, both teachers and pupils were provided with the knowledge and skills to advocate for better child rights. After the initial training, school enterprises have been successfully launched in government schools. Each school has been involved with various businesses – like the start of a fishery enterprise in Kaduna – in order to encourage pupils to become self-reliant and sustain the ACRC project in the future.

Expanding Aflatoun Youth Entrepreneurship in Ondo

In the rural areas of Ondo, another youth entrepreneurship initiative started thanks to the Aflatoun programme. There pupils plant cocoa seedlings which, once grown, are sold to the community farmers who manage some of the biggest cocoa farms in the country. The LYNX team also paid an advocacy visit to the Ministry of Education in Ondo in a quest to expand and sustain the programme in the rural state.

Youth Engagement for Peace Project

LYNX also implements Aflatoun’s training to engage peer leaders in the process of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. In the Youth Engagement for Peace Project peer leaders learn about peace building developments and how to foster this among their peers, discouraging violence in their community. One of the positive outcomes was a peace soccer game which brought Muslim and Christian youth together from six different communities. This is an example of how activities can foster peace and greater understanding among different cultures.

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