The Youth Advisory Board for the Ford Foundation funded Pan African leadership project will play a critical role in the governance of the project. The board has been intentionally constituted up front at the start of the grant project to provide strategic inputs and provide overall guidance of the project and its implementation.
Two ex officio members will sit on the board in addition to the eminent young Africans on the board. The first is a member of AFLI - which is the grant recipient. The second is a member of the African Union Commission’s Youth Division.
In addition to the Board, the leadership project is assembling partners with which to work on an online platform to build a curated community of practice. Various African youth initiatives will be set up for collaboration to be explored, and experiences and best practices documented and shared. This will facilitate learningacross and between progammes. The curators will play a key role in steering these efforts and announcements will be made regarding this in coming weeks.
The board for this project follows:
Raphael Obonyo, Kenya
Co Chair
Raphael ObonyoRaphael Obonyo is a multi-award winning public policy specialist and youth advocate at the national, regional and international levels. He is the author of Conversations about the Youth in Kenya.
He is the co-founder of a number of community and youth-led initiatives including the Youth Congress, a premier youth-led organization in Kenya.
He has extensive knowledge and experience in public policy, international development, political economy, governance and human rights.
Mr Obonyo is the 2018 recipient of the United Nations Africa Renewal Young African Achiever, and 2017 Leader of the Year Award by Africa Youth Awards, the 2017 Pan African Humanitarian Award, and the 2016 Best Communicator in Kenya – by Daily Nation. In 2016 he was named one of the UN Persons of the Year. Also, he received the 2016 Utumushi Bora - Exemplary Leadership Award for his contribution to mentorship and people’s empowerment. He is a Ford Foundation Fellow.
Carol Ndosi, Tanzania
Carol NdosiCarol Ndosi is a media personality with over seven years’ media experience. In 2007, she became a freelance events planner and manager, and in 2011, launched her own event management company. The company, Alta Vista Events, is the sole proprietor of the largest barbecue festival in East and Central Africa, The Nyama Choma Festival. The platform has encouraged and promoted entrepreneurship and inclusion of SMEs and local brands giving them visibility and providing opportunities for employment.
Carol was chosen for the Young African Leaders Initiative - Mandela Washington Fellowship Program Cohort 2016. She is the Co-Founder of a digital solution called KilimoUza, an application and website connecting farmers through SMS. Carol has also co-founded the Launch Pad Tanzania, which is a professional and personal development hub, focusing on youth and women empowerment through skills development and economic empowerment programs.
Carol is a Global Goals Champion with the United Nations Tanzania. She was voted and chosen as a ‘Woman of Influence’ for Malkia Wa Nguvu Awards 2018. She was also listed among 25 young emerging female leaders by Amazons Watch Magazine in 2017.
Jacob Paarechuga Anankware, Ghana
Jacob Paarechuga Anankware PhDJacob Paarechuga Anankware PhD has over eight years of experience in research and business. He is the Founder and CEO of AnePaare Farms where he focuses on insect rearing for food, feed and nutrition. Jacob is an entomologist by training with multiple degrees, a Post-doctoral degree and has been a visiting scholar at Purdue University.
He is passionate about malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty alleviation. Jacob is Ghana’s first and only entomophagical entomologist and has leveraged his expertise in entomology to rear nutritious and healthy edible insects like the palm weevil larva (Akokono) to reduce malnutrition and iron-deficiency anaemia in Africa. He also rears the larvae of the black soldier fly as a sustainable protein for animal feed.
His innovative ideas earned him a recognition by the US government and he was selected among 40 young Ghanaian entrepreneurs and leaders from over 5,000 applicants in Ghana alone and among 1,000 of over 68,000 applications around Africa to be trained in the USA as a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow.
He returned to Ghana from the USA to impact society through his disruptive innovation and business approach. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Energy and Natural Resources and pursuing a program at the University of Oxford, UK. He has over 20 publications to his credit.
Rumbidzo Gunduza, Zimbabwe
Rumbidzo GunduzaRumbidzo Gunduza is a female student at the University of Zimbabwe completing an Honours degree in Sociology.
She is a Board member of Precious Stones Foundation, which focuses on assisting women and girls through life skills training and community advocacy. Rumbidzo is also part of the committee responsible for organizing its annual International Convention named the Precious Stones Women and Girls International Convention.
She is Africa’s AU Youth Ambassador for Zimbabwe for the international organisation, ONE. She ws a runner-up in the ONE Big Idea Continental competition. She helps with coordinating continental activities in social development with other ambassadors from ONE.
She is also also the ambassador for a local organization called Women Excel. It is a women empowerment organization that supports women socio-economically by creating connections and network opportunities for women in the work force. She is the founder and president of Young Excel Club at the University of Zimbabwe.
Amir Ben Ameur, Tunisia
Amir Ben AmeurAmir Ben Ameur is a social activist, an advocate for youth development and democracy, and founder of the national youth umbrella organization called WeYouth. WeYouth is a non-governmental organization that promotes youth participation in decision-making, leadership, education, and civic engagement.
He has directed several projects within his organization on gender advocacy, government transparency, and political accountability. Amir chaired a national campaign that aimed to provide information and raise awareness on the 2014 electoral process, targeting citizens located in neglected rural areas of Tunisia, which was funded by UNDP and MEPI.
In October 2014, Amir was elected to the UN Habitat International Youth Advisory board, where he served as post-conflict advisor. He is also a charter member of World Learning Global Advisory Board. Amir has worked as a consultant and counter-violent extremism practitioner for a number of national and international organizations including UN agencies, the World Bank Group, the US chamber of Commerce.
He is a recipient of a fellowship from the American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford, a Young Activist Award from Municipality of Istanbul, an Arab-African Youth Award, and a Youth Leadership program fellowship.
Roseline Zahui, Cote d’Ivoire
Roseline ZahuiRoseline Zahui is a Project Manager with more than seven years of experience in Project/Program Management in fields such as Environment, Health, Education and Security/Governance. She is currently running an NGO for people living with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) in Cote d’Ivoire called AMICI.
She has worked with vulnerable populations such a children and youth,and women and disabled people. She was selected as Environmental Expert by UNIDO for a project in partnership with the Ministry of Environment of Cote d’Ivoire.
She has a keen interest in Youth Education, especially for young people from French-speaking countries. Many opportunities are available on internet, but because they are in English, they are hidden from the majority of French-speaking young people and even more so from girls who do not reach high levels of education. Roseline is exposing to them new education offers in French to help them access knowledge from different countries.
She is a 2012 Moremi Fellow and a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow.
Patrick Mwesigye, Uganda
Patrick MwesigyePatrick Mwesigye is the Founder and Team Leader of the Uganda Youth and Adolescents Health Forum (UYAHF). UYAHF is a dynamic youth-led and youth-serving health and human rights organization that seeks to create a world where adolescent girls and young women are empowered to live quality lives with equity, dignity and opportunities to realize their full potential.
Patrick has passionately championed health and well-being issues of adolescent girls and young women through policy advocacy and influencing, community mobilization, engagement and behavior change information and human rights.
Patrick has extensive knowledge in advocacy and programing for adolescent health and well-being, gender equality and women empowerment and promotion of youth livelihoods. He has also supported and established leadership and functionality for several national, regional and global youth networks that are today playing a leading role in advocacy for meaningful youth participation in various policy and programing processes.
Some of these networks include among others; AfriYAN East and Southern Africa, Kampala Youth Advocacy Network, PMNCH Adolescent and Youth Constituency, African Union Youth Advisory Board, WHO Africa -Adolescent Health Flagship Program Youth Champions, and He Decides Youth Movement.
Wadi Ben-Hirki, Nigeria
Wadi Ben-HirkiWadi Ben-Hirki is the Founder of Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation, a registered charity that impacts the lives of people through three major projects: Street2School, GirlsNotWives and LITMOW (Love In The Midst Of War).
In July 2016, her foundation launched a social enterprise named Sapphire by WBHF to help raise funds for the foundation’s community projects. She is also the Founder of Sheroes by WBH which is an empowerment initiative for girls and women.
Wadi serves as a Champion for the ONE Campaign in Nigeria and Ashoka Changemaker Fellow. Some of her major achievements include: Her Network Woman of the Future Award 2017, The Ebony Life TV Sisterhood Advocate and People’s Choice of the Year Awards 2017, Top 10 young people in Africa working towards achieving Gender Justice and Reconciliation Award (Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa), Covenant University Class of 2017 Philanthropist of the Year & Top 10 Influencers list, Civil Society Award 2017 for Peace Building, Impacting Young Female Leader in Africa 2017 by One World Foundation, 2nd runner-up Africa Peace builder Award 2016 by World Peace Initiative Foundation and Nigerian Teen Choice Awards Choice Philanthropist of the Year 2015 among others.
She was recently nominated for the 2018 Junior Chamber International (JCI) Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Nigeria Award and Global Peace & Humanitarian Award 2018.
Maudo Jallow, Gambia
Maudo JallowMaudo Jallow is a Gambian development economist that currently works with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as an International Development Expert.
Working under the direct supervision of the Director of the UNIDO New York Office, Maudo conducts research, participates in inter-governmental meetings relevant to UNIDO's mandate, advocates for sustainable industrial development, and works to strategically position UNIDO vis-à-vis Member States.
Maudo also does development work in his native country of The Gambia. He is the founder of New Nation, a youth-led initiative that works to promote youth development and the prioritization of structurally transformative policies.
Maudo’s passion for socio-development on the African continent has not gone unnoticed, as he was recently selected as a contributor for Future Africa Forum. He is an alumnus of the LSE Programme for African Leadership and has spoken at several conferences on Africa, including at the University of Manchester and Cambridge University.
In the recent past, Maudo has worked for the LSE Africa Summit as a Co-Director; and at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), as part of the Social Policy & Development research team in Geneva. His research and professional work focus on domestic resource mobilization, industrialization and social policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ellen Sia Wongo, Sierra Leone
Ellen Sia WongoEllen Sia Wongo is a graduate from the Institute of Public Administration and Management with a Masters in Governance and Leadership also with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics and a diploma in Peace and Conflicts Studies at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. She has worked for several CSOs and NGOs in and outside Sierra Leone.
Formerly she was working with the West African Civil Society Institute in Ghana and she enjoys volunteering work. She is presently working with Christian Aid as Programme Support. Also, she is the country representative for the International Youth Federation (IYF).She is passionate about policy influencing, advocacy, project management, and human rights.
Edward Ndopu, South Africa
Edward NdopuEdward (Eddie) Ndopu is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning human rights advocate, and was recently named by MTV as one of the most powerful disabled people on the planet. Eddie is the former Head of Amnesty International’s Africa Youth Program and is a former Researcher for the World Economic Forum.
He currently consults for the United Nations and serves as Global Ambassador for Nobel-Peace-Prize-Winning Organization, Humanity and Inclusion, where he advocates for the educational rights of children with disabilities across the world.
Eddie holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Oxford University, the first African with a disability to do so. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree with High Distinction from Carelton University, Canada, and is a graduate of the Inaugural Class of the African Leadership Academy.
Kadidiatou Sako Traore, Mali
Kadidiatou Sako TraoreKadidiatou Sako Traore is a Deputy Secretary in charge of promoting girls and gender on the National Youth Council of Mali. In this capacity, she is the National Youth Representative delegated to the Ministry for the promotion of woman, children and families. In her role, Kadidiatou takes part directly in the process of the adoption of laws on gender-based violence.
In July 2017, she was selected as “Young Ambassador for Peace” by the Universal Peace Federation in Mali. This was as a result of her work in encouraging campaigns on themes such as character education in families and communities, sexual restraint before marriage, violence in schools, civility, and the fight against drugs and other narcotics.
Her daily actions consist of promoting good governance, encouraging young people to become true citizens and reinforcing their technical skills in order to face the challenges of their duty and their right.
As an alumnus of YALI Leadership Center, she remains engaged in campaigns against scourges like gender-based violence and female genital mutilation, which is still practiced in Mali, her home country. She is also working against the marriage of young girls, often against their will.
Erick Muzyamba, Uganda
Erick MuzyambaErick Muzyamba is researcher, advocate, activist and proposal writer. He is a former programs officer for the Zambia centre for communication programs in Chikankata district of Southern province.
He works on a USAID/PEPFAR/DFID-funded project to end and prevent gender-based violence, which is being implemented throughout Zambia.
Erick works with the community to prevent gender-based violence, end child marriages and their linkages to HIV/AIDS using the SASA! Methodology and the social behavioral change communication model.
Previously, he served as a research intern with the Population Council Zambia country office in Lusaka, where he worked on a project titled The effectiveness of emergency obstetric referral interventions in developing countries: a systematic review. He interned with Churches Health Association of Zambia, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and COMESA.
Whilst at the university, he was elected president of the population studies association in 2015 and this was the beginning of his youth advocacy and engagement. He was selected to attend the African general assembly in Johannesburg the same year and was later in 2016 invited to represent the constituency of youths at the international AIDS conference in Durban.
Erick Muzyamba is member of the Zambia Association for Research and Development and Zambia Monitoring and Evaluation Association and also a member of African Zambia country chapter.
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