AFCON 2027 Digital Diplomacy and Creative Storytelling Talent Pool Call — AFCON 2027
Job Description
The Youth Café is building a Creative and Digital Diplomacy Talent Pool for its proposed Youth-Led Sports Diplomacy Programme around the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027. The call focuses on young creatives and communicators whose work can connect football with cultural exchange, peacebuilding, youth engagement and people-to-people diplomacy.
The talent pool supports the Football for Peace and Digital Diplomacy Campaign. It brings together storytelling, podcasts, short-form video and youth-generated content that presents football as a shared African platform.
About The Youth Café
The Youth Café is a youth-led African development organisation working with young people in Kenya and across Africa. Its work includes youth advocacy, policy, research, innovation and programmes that advance youth empowerment, social equity, community resilience and sustainable development.
For this call, The Youth Café is developing a youth-led sports diplomacy initiative linked to AFCON 2027. The initiative uses sport, culture and creative communication to strengthen regional integration, cultural exchange and peacebuilding across Africa.
About the Creative and Digital Diplomacy Talent Pool
This is an expression-of-interest call rather than a confirmed employment offer. Selected applicants join a pool that The Youth Café can consider for future work connected to digital storytelling, content production, creative diplomacy, AFCON 2027 host-city storytelling, cultural exchange and youth engagement.
Digital diplomacy in this initiative refers to using digital media and creative work to communicate across communities, build cultural understanding and support constructive public engagement. Contributors are expected to develop thoughtful stories that reflect African identities, experiences and connections around football.
Creative areas covered
The call welcomes applicants with interests or experience in the following areas:
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Creative storytelling and digital content creation
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Podcasting and audio storytelling
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Filmmaking, photography and short-form video
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Journalism and digital communication
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Innovation and dialogue facilitation
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Cultural practice, youth engagement and peacebuilding communication
Who can apply
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Young people with relevant creative, storytelling, innovation, dialogue-facilitation, cultural or digital-communication interests or experience.
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Applicants interested in Africa, sport, culture, youth engagement, diplomacy, regional integration, cultural exchange or peacebuilding.
What shortlisted applicants may be considered for
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Digital storytelling and content-production opportunities
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Creative diplomacy activities
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AFCON 2027 host-city storytelling
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Cultural-exchange and youth-engagement work
Submitting an application does not guarantee shortlisting or engagement.
Application materials
Applicants complete a substantive creative application that demonstrates their perspective, previous work and ability to communicate responsibly about culture, peace and African identity. The application includes:
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A cover letter or résumé
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A link to a previous piece of creative work
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A short explanation of digital diplomacy and the role of young creatives
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A Kenya-focused story idea for audiences across Africa and beyond
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An original football-based digital campaign concept promoting unity, peace and cross-cultural understanding
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Responses on cultural representation, handling online criticism and creating engaging peacebuilding content for young digital audiences
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A concept for transforming the theme “From the Football Pitch to the Diplomatic Table” into a digital storytelling series
How to Apply
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Prepare a cover letter or résumé, portfolio links and a link to a strong previous creative work.
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Develop concise responses to the written storytelling and campaign questions.
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Use the Apply button below this post to open the official application form.
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Submit the completed form by 16 September 2026.
Application deadline: 15 September 2026