United Nations has recognised 17 young advocates, including five Africans, who are leading efforts to combat some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
The five Africans, Development Diaries understands, are Vanessa Nakate (Uganda), Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi (Nigeria), Mariama Djambony Badji (Senegal), Loay Radwan (Egypt) and Satta Sheriff (Liberia).
‘Despite being disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, young people around the world continue to demonstrate immense resilience, resourcefulness, and leadership in finding innovative solutions to recover better and achieve the SDGs’, UN Secretary-General’s envoy on youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, said.
Osowobi is the founder of Stand to End Rape (STER) aimed at raising awareness on sexual abuse in Africa’s most populous nation.
The Nigerian boasts of six years of experience in deploying effective solutions to challenge systemic social barriers that promote violence against women and girls and utilising social and behaviour change communication to improve SGBV knowledge, attitudes, and practices in order to achieve gender equality.
On her part, Nakate, a climate activist from Uganda, is raising awareness to the danger of climate change, the causes and the impacts.
She spearheaded the campaign to save Congo’s rainforest, which is facing massive deforestation; the campaign later spread to other countries from Africa to Europe.
Vanessa, who is working on a project that involves installation of solar and institutional stoves in schools, was one of the young climate activists chosen to speak at the COP25 gathering in Spain.
As for Sheriff from Liberia, she is a human rights activist and a staunch champion for justice who has been working to defend children and women rights since age nine.
In 2016, she founded Action for Justice and Human Rights (AJHR), a children and youth driven NGO to advocate and ensure access to justice and respect for human rights in Liberia.
Badji, who is from Senegal, is co-founder and chief executive officer of DNA SARL, a construction company that offers living environments using natural and local materials.
The civil engineer has been volunteering with Africa Feliz Senegal, a non-profit association that aims to fight against poverty and irregular emigration through skills training for young people and women.
Similarly, Radwan, who co-founded G-Beetle, is passionate about providing people with a better quality of life.
The Egyptian has always been a devout believer that people should be there for each other.
The young leaders for the SDGs represent the diverse voices of youths from every region of the world, and are collectively responsible for activating millions of young people in support of the SDGs.
Source: United Nations
Photo source: Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi
