Elevating Youth Voices in Honor of #YouthDay
Meet five Young African Leaders Initiative alumni who are leading the movement toward a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable society
Young people around the world are leading movements to protect our planet, promote democracy, support historically marginalized communities, address COVID-19, and more. USAID takes pride in partnering with these young people to find solutions to some of the world’s most critical issues.
Through youth programs, such as the Young African Leaders Initiative, USAID provides opportunities for youth to pursue meaningful leadership roles and participate in key decision making forums. Four USAID-funded Regional Leadership Centers (RLCs) based in Africa offer transformational leadership training to young Africans ages 18–35. The training provides youth with leadership skills and knowledge to take on positions of influence, lead meaningful change, and address social issues.
This year, we are celebrating International Youth Day by spotlighting the work and experience of five YALI alumni.
From disability rights activism to sustainable farming techniques, meet innovators who are catalyzing change in their communities and countries.
1. Nancy Kadenyi, Kenya, YALI East Africa, 2018
Nancy, 27, is a Natural Resources Management Specialist at MetaMeta Research in Nairobi, Kenya. She works with farmers across the country teaching them about overgrazing, conservation techniques, organic farming, and water harvesting.
Since her training with YALI, she has taught more than 500 farmers about water harvesting and 240 others on farm pasture production and rangelands restoration. Part of her goal is to motivate youth involvement in agricultural and environmental activities by showing how sustainable practices boost farmers’ productivity and income. Nancy also wants to shift youth perspectives from seeing agriculture jobs as “dirty” to highlighting the value they can provide.
Adaptation strategies, or changes made to prepare for climate change, are the biggest challenge for Kenyans, according to Nancy. She advocates for a bottom-up approach where everyone is included in working toward a more sustainable way of life.
“You cannot protect the environment unless you empower, inform, and help people understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.”
2. Samantha Sibanda, Zimbabwe, YALI Southern Africa, 2017
Samantha, 36, is the founder and director of Signs of Hope Trust in Zimbabwe. Her organization advocates for the rights of those with disabilities and empowers them to “be custodians of their rights.”
Meeting young leaders from other countries through her YALI training allowed her to expand her work. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Samantha created a website with audio features for the visually impaired to share pandemic-related news and information. She then visited rural communities with limited internet access to share that information.
According to Samantha, the most pressing challenge for the pandemic response is including people with disabilities and disseminating information. Through her advocacy, she encourages youth not to wait for an invitation to the table but rather to lead from where they are.
“When we work together, when we know that we are there for each other, then our work can be propelled to another level.”
3. Eugene Osei-Tutu, Ghana, YALI West Africa Accra, 2018
Eugene, 27, is a producer, writer, reporter, and fact checker. After completing the USAID YALI Public Management training, he became interested in media and data-based reporting, and he was able to hone his investigative reporting skills to be a driver of accountability and transparency. As a journalist, Eugene serves a watchdog role in society, holding the government and industries accountable by exposing corrupt practices. “One of the foremost issues affecting the African continent is corruption,” Eugene said.
His advice to aspiring young journalists: “If you want to be a journalist, don’t be a journalist because of political favors, but be a journalist whose core duty would be to the truth, and to the citizens of the country.”
“As a media person, I can bring the voices of those who do not have the benefits of the microphone or the video to the forefront.”
4. Rita Makena Mutegi, Kenya, YALI East Africa, 2019
Assistant Commissioner Rita, 31, is responsible for building peace and security in Machakos County, Kenya, where she has jurisdiction over more than 100 villages. In her role, she meets with village elders, conducts monthly public gatherings, and coordinates national government projects.
In 2019, Rita attended a YALI training at the RLC in East Africa where she learned from her peers about peace and security challenges in other African countries and shared her own experiences. Rita has studied crime prevention in Kenya, and believes that the key to a crime-free society is community involvement. The biggest challenges to peace-building in Kenya are joblessness, especially during the pandemic, and a lack of community involvement in crime prevention. Rita noted, “It’s really a challenging moment, but I believe when we team up and all of us play our part, we are going to counter this crime.”
“YALI taught me that the opportunity I have to serve the public is a golden opportunity, and it is entrusted to me for a reason. I take this responsibility with a lot of seriousness knowing that I’m not only doing this for the government, I’m also doing this to mentor other young people.”
5. Atman Bouba, Benin, YALI West Africa Dakar, 2016
Atman, 30, is a historian, blogger, web journalist, and digital communications consultant in Benin. He joined a training at the RLC in West Africa in 2016 where he learned about development work, including democracy and human rights promotion.
YALI helped Atman gain the skills needed to found Citoyen 229, a non-governmental organization funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund that aims to strengthen democracy through youth participation .
In 2018, Citoyen 229 hosted a four-day training for 100 youth in Benin on democratic principles, good governance, and the use of web-based citizen participation tools. The NGO has since run many similar projects and offers classes and Facebook live events to educate youth in social media use, governance, and civic leadership. He encourages youth to do what they enjoy and to get involved.
“Before YALI, I was just a youth with many ideas, but who didn’t know how to start,” Atman said. “With YALI, I discovered myself — I now know who I am, who I want to be, and where I want to be.”
“Tomorrow is ours, and we must get involved in order to give a best future for our children.”
About the Authors
Olivia du Bois is a communications intern in the Africa Bureau; Katrina Johnston is the Communications Analyst on the Young African Leadership Initiative team within the Africa Bureau.
