Still in the spirit of the International Youth Day, Youthhubafrica is celebrating 10 Young Africans pushing the frontiers of change in Africa, Our top 10 Young Changemakers are blazing the trail. Read about them here on YouthHubAfrica.
Gwendolyn Myers- Founder, Messengers of Peace: Liberia, 28
Rising from the ashes of Liberia’s protracted civil war, Gwendolyn Myers believes that women and young people can play a key role in promoting peace in Liberia. As founder and Executive Director of Messengers of Peace Inc. (MOP), Gwendolyn is currently encouraging and motivating young minds in volunteering for peace and Development in Liberia. Gwendolyn and her army of over 1,000 volunteers were very active in the 2017 Liberia General elections, organizing young people to eschew violence and promote youth participation in a peaceful manner in the elections through generating peaceful messages and disseminating them through radio jingles, spot messages and street dramas.
Due to her zealous Activism for Peace, she was recognized and appointed to serve as Liberia’s Ambassador to ‘World Peace is Possible Foundation’ in Netherlands and the United States.Gwendolyn is one whose determination has occasioned impact in her country Liberia, her efforts in peace-building is highly recognised.
Fati Abubakar- Founder, Bits of Borno; Nigeria-, 32
Fati Abubakar, through her pictures of everyday life in Borno has helped to humanise the ongoing conflict and humanitarian disaster in Nigeria’s North East. Fati Abubakar is a documentary photographer, public and humanitarian health worker from Nigeria. With her social media pages titled ‘Bits of Borno’, Fati focuses on capturing the Northern culture and traditions of Borno on Lens. She uses photography as an advocacy tool to document culture, conflict, urban poverty, rural development and humanitarian issues.
The outstanding project – ‘Bits of Borno’ was launched to showcase Borno state, North Eastern part of Nigeria, at the time of the ‘Boko Haram’ terrorist attack.The ‘Bits of Borno’ gained a lot of attention in the public space both locally and globally, her work has been sampled by various media houses both home and abroad, including The New York Times, BBC, Reuters, CNN, Voice of America, Newsweek Europe, Africa is a Country blog. One of Fati’s popular project was commissioned by Media Information and Narrative Department (MIND) and named ‘Water Wahala’ to highlight water and environmental issues. It was exhibited in March 2016. Most recently in August 2018, Fati was named by the Royal Photographic Society as one of the Hundred Heroines of Photography
Ilwad Elman-Co-founder, ElmanPeace and Human Rights Centre: Somalia, 28
Ilwad Elman was born in Mogadishu, Somalia to a peace activist, Elman Ali Ahmad and social activist, Fartuun Adan. Ilwad works with her mum as the Director of Programs and Development at the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, an organisation with a core objective for promoting Peace, Gender Justice, Civilian Protection and Countering Violent Extremism in Somalia, the Horn and East Africa. The organisation’s work has encouraged changes in government policies.
Ilwad Elman also co-runs ‘Sister Somalia’, a subsidiary of the Elman Peace Centre. This was Somalia’s first program for assisting victims of Gender Based Violence. Sister Somalia provides counselling, health and housing support for women in need through workshops – creating and implementing projects that provide opportunities for both young and old.
Ilwad is a CVE advocate of ‘Extremely Together’ Initiative founded by the Kofi Annan Foundation which aims to counter violent extremism through inspiring and empowering youths globally. Ilwad chairs the Child Protection Working group and the Mogadishu Gender Based Violence Case Management Group. She is also a serving ‘One Young World’ Ambassador to Somalia and a Barack Obama Young African Leaders Fellow. In March 2018, she was appointed by the United Nations into the Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group
Barclay Paul Okari- Founder, Safi Pads, Kenya ; 26
Barclay Paul Okari, a 26-year-old Kenyan entrepreneur decided to explore the possibility of offering cheaper, commercially viable alternative to regular sanitary pads. He took a $1,500 loan from his parents and set out to develop Safi Pads, an inexpensive, reusable, washable sanitary towel for low-income women. It turns out that there was a market for this product. Today, Okari’s company, Impact Africa Industries, has sold and distributed more than 1 million of these pads across East Africa. These reusable sanitary towels are patronized by indigent women in rural areas in Kenya and Uganda, and help families make reasonable savings.
Charles Lipenga- Founder,Maestros Leadership Team, Malawi- 29
Charles Lipenga is a 29-year-old Malawian and graduate of Architecture from the University of Malawi. Charles is the founder of Maestros Leadership Company (MLC); a philanthropist organisation that engages young people in intellectual and life changing trainings, providing academic scholarships to more than 1,000 less privileged high school students across Malawi.
Despite growing up in a less privileged community, Charles chose to become an advocate for change. Amongst his early project was providing knowledge and development tools to 31 street kids in Blantyre City using his school allowance.Charles became a student lecturer in 2009 which fetched him a UNESCO scholarship later that year for a study tour in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.Presently, through different campaigns using the MLC Initiative,Charles has provided Quality Education, Sanitary Pads to young girls and impacted lives across 22 Countries through a team of Motivated Young Minds.
Farida Bemba Nabourema- Founder, Togolese Civil League Togo- 28
Farida Bemba Nabourema is a Togolese author, Human Rights activist, Blogger and Founder of ‘Nyafa’- an initiative providing thousands of books to registered users in Africa. Ever since her teenage years, Farida has been a bold and resilient advocate for Democracy and Human rights in Africa. Farida is the founder of Togolese Civil League, an organisation/platform that represents the interests of the people of Togo, this initiative was born out of the belief that Democratic advancement and Economic development comes as a result of citizens’ full participation in Democratic processes from the grassroot to all other levels in the country. This platform informs and engages the citizens within the country and those in diaspora on democratic processes. Farida is also the co-founder of the ‘Faure Must Go’, a togolese movement opposing years of dictatorship and autocratic rule in Togo.
Among Farida’s published books are titled ‘La Pression de l’oppression’ (The Pressure of Oppression) where she highlighted the different forms of oppression people face in Africa, pointing out the need for African Women and Youths to be fully aware and participate in political processes, another book: “The Horror of French colonialism in Africa” where she speaks about African Colonialism by the French. She is known for her passion in speaking against Corruption, Bad Governance and Neocolonialism. Farida is a graduate of International Relations from the American University in Washington D.C. She was recently interviewed by Premium times for her fight to defend democracy and stand against Authoritarianism.
Amasa Firdaus Abdulsalam: Activist & Law Graduate; Nigeria
Amasa dared to change the long standing narrative of being called to bar without the Hijab. According to Nigerian Law school, this was a violation of the professional law dress code. On December 12, 2017 Amasa Firdaus Abdulsalam was denied entrance to the International Conference Centre (venue of the ‘call to bar’ ceremony) in Abuja, due to her refusal to remove her headscarf. Despite the restriction by the authorities concerned, Amasa remained resolute and insisted on wearing her wig on her head covering.
Amasa insisted that there was never such law but only a convention which did not make this valid. She was well aware of the consequences of her decision. Amasa said her conviction was to ensure Female Muslim Law graduates express their constitutional rights as enshrined in the constitution.With little or no efforts on her path, Amasa gained significant social media attention as this caused a lot of controversy. In July 2018, Amasa was called to bar alongside 12 other colleagues of hers. Amasa Firdaus Abdulsalam is one who truly possess the spirit of activism and firmness, in not only standing and acting on what she believes in, but also setting a precedence for freedom of every Female-Muslim Lawyer to exercise their constitutional rights.
Alain Nteff- Founder GiftedMom; 26; Cameroon
Alarmed by the high infant and maternal mortality rate in his community, Alain Nteff at 20 developed a mobile app called Gifted Mom to help alleviate this problem. GiftedMom is Central Africa’s first mobile health platform that has been designed to improve the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their children. It saves lives, too.
When Alain visited a clinic in rural Cameroon, he learned that 17 premature babies had lost their lives due to complications from preventable illnesses like syphilis, chlamydia, and malaria, he then saw the need to take immediate action. Today, GiftedMom offers a comprehensive suite of services to women and families. The application’s free SMS services sends reminders about the importance of prenatal care and breastfeeding directly to subscribers’ mobile phones. The platform also tracks vaccinations for children and also makes immunization schedules available to their guardians.This award-winning initiative revolutionized Maternity Healthcare in Cameroon.
Jaha Marie-Dukureh-Founder Safe Hands for Girls; 29; The Gambia
Jaha Marie Dukureh is a women Rights Activist, the lead campaigner in the Global Media Campaign to End FGM and a renowned voice against Female Genital Mutilation. Jaha hails from The Gambia in Western Africa.
Barely a week old, Jaha was subjected to Type III Female Genital Mutilation and was forcefully given out for marriage at the age of 15.Jaha Founded ‘Safe Hands for Girls’ in 2013, an organization working relentlessly to End Female Genital Mutilation and also providing support for African Women and Girls. In that same year, Jaha earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration Management in Georgia Southwestern University, USA.
Jaha’s activism through youth mobilization and campaigns, contributed to the Gambian government’s ban on Female Genital Mutilation. Jaha also worked with President Obama’s administration to investigate the prevalence of FGM in the United States, and the subsequent Summit to End FGM on 2 December, 2016 at the United States Institute of Peace. In February 2018, Jaha Marie Dukureh was appointed by the UN Women as Regional Goodwill Ambassador to support the advocacy to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in Africa, with focus on mobilizing youth. Jaha has been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
Richard Appiah Akoto: The Microsoft Teacher;33 ; Ghana
Richard gained tremendous media attention for teaching computer technology: giving an extensive explanation of a typical Microsoft word display on a blackboard at Batenase M/A Junior High School in Sekyedumase Southern town of Ghana. His zeal to impact knowledge in the future generation earned him the attention of a major tech donor; Microsoft, who provided the school with computer devices, a free training in Singapore at the Microsoft Educators Exchange, and a Microsoft Certified Educator Program (MCE) for professional development. This was asides computer and laptop donations from individuals and organizations across the continent.
Richard’s action was borne out of the need to see his students pass the national examination that included questions on ICT despite the challenge of lack of computers in the school.
Do you know any other young person in your community, county or country doing amazing work in the development or social enterprise space in Africa? Feel free to share with us in the comment section and we will be in touch.
