BY CYNTHIA OKOTH: Creating a safer place for children needs the establishment of safe spaces for reporting abuse, stricter legal measures against perpetrators.
BY DANIEL ODEKE: Challenges such as limited access to youth-friendly services, uninformed decision-making, and uneven distribution of public resources can be addressed by involving youth in the initial processes.
BY DANIEL ODEKE: It’s important to understand the protective effect of education as it regards FGM and seek to amplify this effect by implementing inclusive, community-centric, and informed educational efforts.
BY MERCY DALIZU: Confidentiality of one’s HIV status is also an important aspect of medical information, but slum dwellers often face difficulties in maintaining this key information.
I am a grassroot activist leading the fight to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child Marriage, advocating for the education of young Maasai girls. I continuously link my role at NAYA as a Sexual reproductive health and rights youth advocate with my advocacy work at the community level.
Thanks to my experience at NAYA, I am now in a position to mentor and offer technical assistance to my fellow youth advocates in budget advocacy and abstract writing. I have analyzed County government budgets and represented the organisation at the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2019 conference.
I believe in meaningfully involving the youth in the implementation, review and follow-up of the global development goals. As a SRHR youth champion, I am keen on ensuring there is youth leadership at all levels in combating the rising conservatism globally. I want to see positive change in the realities of young people in my community.