ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – A civil society organisation, Raising New Voices Initiative, has concluded plans to launch a tech tool for civic engagement in Nigeria.
According to a statement made available to Sundiata Post and signed by Victor Terhemba, acting executive director of the organisation, the tech tool called Gov Engage leverages technology to enhance the capacity of citizens to engage with elected leaders ahead of the 2023 elections.
“The tool is a web-based portal that allows citizens to engage directly with elected and appointed leaders on advocacy issues that they are concerned about. The launch of the portal is scheduled to happen in the coming weeks,” the statement said.
Sundiata Post recalls that the web-based application is an improvement of the earlier developed portal, ‘Call Your Reps’, which was developed specifically for the electoral reform campaign in 2021. Due to its overwhelming success and impact that saw over 5,000 Nigerians use the portal in the first two weeks, the organisation saw the need to further improve on the initiative to allow for greater participation of citizens on issues that they are really concerned about. Unlike the predecessor portal, other organisations can also now host their advocacy campaigns on the portal. The launch will feature a demo of the technology with selected civil society organisations to create a campaign and test the application.
According to the Convener of Raising New Voices, Jude Feranmi, “this civic-tech tool provides the opportunity for organisations who are advocating for any issues at all to create an account and host their advocacy campaign on the portal. The portal comes with a seamless user journey experience.”
Terhemba said once the portal is officially unveiled and launched, organisations and individuals can log on the portal to create campaigns or participate in campaigns. Each campaign created by an organisation undergoes a review to ensure it meets the required standards before it is approved. This is also to prevent the abuse of use of the portal.
Raising New Voices (RNV) is a non-governmental organisation that is focused on the participation and inclusion of young people in leadership and politics. Since 2018, RNV has promoted the participation and inclusion of young people through various programs and leveraged technology to increase civic engagement. Raising New Voices is supported by Friedrich Ebert Stitfung for the development of this technology.
banker of the day - FREE banker tips from experts