The U-Report project - Raising Youth Voices in Sierra Leone

A new social monitoring tool to strengthen community-led development and citizen engagement supported by UNICEF.

Last week Friday MamaYe Sierra Leone hosted over 20 youth and UNICEF technology for development staff at our offices for a soft launch of the U-Report.

What is U-Report exactly? Well it is a social monitoring tool designed for youth and other community members to strengthen community-led development and citizen engagement. It essentially empowers people to speak out via SMS and other channels - through polls and unsolicited messages - in real time about what is happening in their communities.

U-Report also provides a forum to amplify youth voices through local and national media, sends alerts to key staeholders about issues being faced by youth in their communities, and feeds back useful information to the U-reports thus enabling U-Reporters to work for change and improvements in their localities. 

UNICEF in collaboration with MamaYe Sierra Leone will be working to ensure that Sierra Leone has thousands of U-reporters - this means we want to hear from YOUNG VOICES all around the country and we will highlight these voices in Real Time!

Not only do we want to hear from you, we also want to feed information back to you and then inform decision makers about YOUR issues. 

  • U report project photo
  • Adults discussing
  • U report project photo
  • Description of young people in SL
  • Woman on phone
  • U report project leaflet
  • U report poll
  • U report poll
  • U report poll

To become a U-Reporter is quite easy, if you are on AFRICELL OR AIRTEL just text JOIN to 2080. It is FREE and you will immediatly become a U-Reporter, joining other young people across the country in voicing your opinions and helping to shape policy that directly affects you. 

MamaYe, a campaign aimed at saving the lives of mothers and babies, has always been passionate about empowering young voices to become strong advocates for their own change. Your experiences matter, and what better way to garner visibility than through the use of your mobile phone.

For instance, during World AIDS day, we asked U-Reporters questions related to their knowledge about HIV/AIDS , see below for their responses. 

Join Today to become U-Reporter! Your Voice Matters. Join on Facebook & Twitter 

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