Across Africa, young people are using digital platforms to access education, build livelihoods, create social enterprises, mobilize civic action and participate in public debate. Yet digital transformation is not automatically inclusive, safe or peace-enhancing. Connectivity alone does not guarantee safe participation: young people face harassment, scams, surveillance, algorithmic bias and manipulated information, often on systems designed without their languages, realities or interests in view.

A new compendium from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) responds to this challenge. Its central premise is that digital inclusion is no longer sufficient on its own: young people should not only be connected, but able to participate safely, meaningfully and critically in digital and AI-mediated environments. This shift, from access-focused digital inclusion to youth-safe digital futures, raises deeper questions: who designs digital systems, whose data is used, whose languages and realities are represented, who benefits from AI-enabled innovation, who is protected from harm, and who has the power to challenge unfair or unsafe digital outcomes.

The compendium situates artificial intelligence (AI) within the wider digital transformation ecosystem — connectivity, data governance, digital public infrastructure, digital rights, online safety, information integrity, public trust, youth innovation and institutional capacity — and approaches it through three linked policy questions: how young Africans can access and benefit from AI-enabled transformation; what safeguards, accountability mechanisms and governance frameworks are needed to prevent AI-related harms; and how digital trust can be built so that technology strengthens, rather than undermines, peace, social cohesion and development.

The collection will be aligned with the African Union's Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020–2030, the AU Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the Global Digital Compact and UNDP's digital and AI work.

Scope of the compendium

The compendium will bring together 8–10 thematic policy papers and 3–4 short case studies drawn from African countries, regional initiatives or youth-led digital innovations, concluding with a synthesis chapter that proposes a policy agenda for youth-safe digital futures in Africa. Contributions must be analytical rather than descriptive, connect local realities to national, subregional and continental policy processes, and prioritize evidence from African contexts wherever possible.

Papers should respond to one of four themes:

1. Theme 1: Digital and AI inclusion as a foundation for peace and development. How young people can access and use digital and AI technologies safely, meaningfully and equitably, from affordability, connectivity and digital and AI literacy to local-language content, gender gaps, disability inclusion and rural-urban inequalities, and how unsafe or unequal access exposes young people to misinformation, scams, surveillance and algorithmic bias.
2. Theme 2: Safe digital spaces, rights and protection. Online and technology-facilitated harms affecting young people, including cyberbullying, harassment, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, scams, exploitation, extremist recruitment, surveillance risks and mental health impacts, and how protection, rights and safety can be embedded in digital policy and practice.
3. Theme 3: Information integrity, media and social cohesion. Misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, election-related manipulation and declining trust in institutions, and the role of media, influencers, platforms and fact-checking initiatives in strengthening democratic participation, civic trust and peacebuilding.
4. Theme 4: Youth-led innovation, livelihoods and digital resilience. How young Africans are using digital technologies and AI for entrepreneurship, creative economies, climate adaptation, civic technology, peacebuilding and community resilience, and the policy, financing and partnership ecosystems needed to support youth-led digital transformation.

Who should contribute

The compendium will be authored by African researchers, youth experts, practitioners, civil society actors, digital rights specialists, technology policy experts and policy scholars. Authors may draw on academic literature, policy reports, legal and institutional frameworks, interviews, case studies, programme evidence and youth-led initiatives.

Editorial requirements

All papers must be intellectually authored by humans and reflect original analysis. AI-generated papers will not be accepted. Any limited use of AI-assisted tools for language refinement, transcription, coding, translation or literature organization must be disclosed, and must not replace the author's own analysis, evidence or judgement.

Each paper should include:

• a clear abstract or executive summary;
• a problem statement;
• definitions of key terms;
• a short methodology note;
• evidence-based analysis;
• gender, youth, disability and conflict-sensitivity considerations;
• policy recommendations at community, national, regional and continental levels; and
• a complete reference list, using a consistent referencing style (APA 7th edition or Chicago author-date preferred).

All submissions will undergo editorial review, plagiarism checks and peer review. Papers must be original and must not be under consideration elsewhere.

How to submit

Send your 2,000-word paper by 31 August 2026 to:

• Raquel Leandro (raquel.leandro@undp.org)
• Christella Igiraneza (christella.igiraneza@undp.org)
• Emmaculate Liaga (eliaga@issafrica.org)

Timeline

• Call for papers opens: 23 July 2026
• Submission deadline: 31 August 2026
• Internal review and evaluation: end of September 2026
• External peer review: mid-October 2026
• Editing and finalization: mid-November to December 2026

Young Africans are already shaping the continent's digital transformation. This compendium seeks the evidence and analysis needed to ensure they can do so safely, equitably and on their own terms.