– Equipop Lab: An approach to fostering innovative projects that serve civil society in West Africa

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are key partners in changing social norms and in monitoring and implementing government plans and programs. Based on its experience with CSOs, Equipop has found that, too often, the projects they carry out replicate interventions that are of limited effectiveness, failing to take sufficient account of research data and lessons learned from other experiences. In response, Equipop has expanded its support services to CSOs through the deployment of a new project incubation methodology called Equipop Lab.

[vc_column_text css= ».vc_custom_1532960462418{background-color: #c6c6c6 !important;} »]What are Equipop Labs? Designed in partnership with specialists in Design Thinking methodology, Equipop Labs were developed with the aim of creating a space for CSOs and their partners to reflect and collectively create projects focused on innovation and relevance. By drawing on a range of expertise, the workshop format developed by Equipop encourages knowledge sharing and detailed analysis of the context of Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (AYSRH) in which CSOs operate. This detailed analysis forms the basis of any innovation process. To this end, the workshop focuses on:

1. identifying a core issue,
2. thinking about how to solve the problem,
3. prototyping the chosen solution, testing it, and then improving it.

In short, it is a collaborative, user-centered, action-oriented approach, as illustrated in the diagram opposite. [/vc_column_text]

The participatory nature of the approach and the added value of the incubated projects were recognized and praised by several participants in the first three workshops organized in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

[blockquote text="Honestly, I was very concerned at first about the approach, but in the end, I found it to be very original and valuable." Ousmane Ouedraogo, leader of the consortium of CSOs in Burkina Faso] text_color="#b3ada9" border_color="#f7461c"][blockquote text="What particularly impressed me was the fact that we think we're having fun when in reality we're working very hard. It's a highly participatory approach that produces some excellent projects."  Dr. Clétus ADOHINZIN, Regional Program Manager for "Reproductive Health and HIV Prevention in the ECOWAS Region," OOAS. " text_color="#b3ada9" border_color="#f7461c"][blockquote text=""Equipop Lab is a very useful project incubation approach because it can be adapted more or less easily and independently of the context. It was a very useful experience for me because I do a lot of activities with young people and it is now a good way to guide them in designing innovative projects." Stephanie Kimou, founder of PopWorks Africa.  " text_color="#b3ada9" border_color="#f7461c"]

Thanks to the EquiPop Lab incubation process, several projects are currently being launched. In Burkina Faso, a project involving social auditing by young people and the dissemination of its results through theater has been developed under the name "Burkinbi Wili." In Mali, a platform called "Laïdu-mètre" is being set up to monitor the government's commitments in the area of SRHR. Meanwhile, Niger has opted for a caravan to mobilize local influencers to take into account the country's real priorities in terms of family planning.

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Guided by the desire to promote the emergence of innovative and relevant joint working methods to effectively address complex issues relating to young people's SRHR, Equipop will continue to implement "Equipop Labs" in other countries in the sub-region through a multi-project and multi-stakeholder approach.