Yet, despite Africa’s richness in resources—diamonds, gold, and natural beauty—life here has its share of challenges. As an orphan raised by my father, I grew up without access to essential sexual education due to cultural taboos. Like many, I became pregnant at 17, but I was fortunate to continue my education. Today, Rwanda is working toward empowering young people through advocacy and awareness campaigns, fostering a brighter future.

The Africa Women Health Champions initiative is surely an investment in the African woman and through her, in the health of African people. So why did I start this initiative? I have been convinced for years that WHO, like many other organisations, needs far more women in leadership positions.

To get back on track, the report highlighted that urgent actions are needed to change course and reimagine our futures. These actions must be collective, strategic and evidence based.     

In a region with some of the highest rates of disease outbreaks in the world, the Africa Women Health Champions initiative provides young women from the continent with the opportunity to serve to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Africa.

While based in the Sahel - the most youthful region in the world, with 64.5% of youth aged under 25 [1] - I have had the opportunity to witness how youth volunteerism can empower young people and provide them with opportunities to actively participate in local, national, regional and global development activities.

Inequality is a paradox of our modern society. A 2018 Oxfam International report shows that 26 people own the same wealth as 3.8 billion who make up the poorest half of humanity.

The enhancing security, co-existence and protection through refugee outreach volunteer’s project in Kalobeyei was launched in 2017 by UNV. The project, funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was implemented by Lutheran World Federation LWF with support from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In Kakuma, it is the first time that a UN Agency piloted a refugee youth volunteer project through an organized structure.

The consultation facilitated substantive discussions and generated great interest from partners to further strengthen and leverage the role of volunteerism to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

As the world commemorated October 17th as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, key 'Buy Malawi' strategy stakeholders recognized the initiative as pivotal in tackling poverty in Malawi. Like most developing countries, a large proportion of the population generally prefer imported products and services to local ones.

What inspired you to write this book?