A Creative Arts Festival in Freetown in February 2026, organised by After the End project partner Institute for Development, showed that lived experience is not just a perspective—it is a form of evidence.

What started as a small idea within the Institute for Development has grown into a platform shaped by young people, researchers, and youth leaders working together. Seeing that shift—from a small group to a wider community of contributors—has been one of the most important parts of a journey engaging communities with research and evidence.

Through poetry, visual art, and performance, young people shared their experiences of crises such as Ebola, COVID-19, and the Freetown mudslides. These creative expressions opened up conversations about recovery, wellbeing, and the future—on their own terms.

In spaces where young people are often excluded from decision-making, this created space to be heard, to reflect, and to contribute.

What matters now is that this does not stop here. The Creative Arts platform will continue—creating space for youth voices to be shared, documented, and engaged with over time. Because if evidence is to reflect real lives, it must include lived experience.

The festival was held as part of the National Evidence Summit 2026. You can read more in Institute for Development’s National Evidence Summit 2026 report.

Anais Bash-Taqi, Research & Communication Officer, Institute for Development