By Moses Kibet, Adolescent Champion, West Pokot, Kenya
As a young person, it is my mission to advocate for the youth across the world so that their needs are addressed in a comprehensive way.
When I was selected to attend the 39th “Gender Is My Agenda Campaign” (GIMAC) consultative meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia held on 12th-14th February 2023, I was ecstatic! It meant I was able to add my voice to those of young people across the continent to call for the implementation of the implementation of Maputo protocol in in line with accelerating gender responsive and access to adolescent sexual reproductive health rights.
It also offered me an opportunity to interact with different stakeholders and engage on key issues affecting young people across the continent- something I have been doing here in Kenya.
I started my advocacy journey at 12 years old when I was a member of the West Pokot Children Assembly. Then, I was able to participate in a number of forums and took part in the review of the Children’s Act 2001 (now Children’s Act 2022). My efforts saw me elected unopposed as the speaker both at the West Pokot and National Children’s Assembly for two terms.
Thanks to my interactions with other young people, I encountered Declares Kenya, one of the youth networks connected to DSW and I was able to see the kind of work they do. I come from my region with relatively high rates of teen pregnancies and a high number of school dropout cases. It made me realise that not many young women and girls understand their reproductive rights and how important information and access to services is for their well-being.
The two organisations, Declares Kenya and DSW, held a training for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) that resulted in positive impact. All the young girls- about 12 of them- from my neighbourhood who took part the training were able to avoid pregnancy and finish their secondary education.
With such impact, I did not hesitate to join Declares Kenya and DSW’s youth network when they invited me to. I was able to enhance my knowledge on SRHR and on advocacy, which made me a better youth champion and advocate.
These are the skills and knowledge I used at the GIMAC, a platform that allowed me to expand my mindset on various issues and engage with leaders from all over the continent on the status of young people.
I actively took part in key sessions from advocacy training to SRHR discussions. The session on advocacy was my favourite because I learnt what it takes to be an advocate and that young people are the best advocates because they are energetic, assertive and aggressive.
We also had insightful discussions on SRHR especially on the obstacles to the access of SRHR information and services by young women. On HIV issues, I learnt that young women and girls bear the burden of most cases on the continent and we must be at the forefront to address that and reduced the incidence. I also liked the discussion on how Africans can use technology to address both socio-economic and SRHR challenges on the continent.
I had the opportunity to interact with fellow young brilliant advocates from all over the continent. One of them, Munnira Katongole from South Africa shared her advocacy experience, highlighting how some leaders do not pay attention to the issues marginalised groups on the continent face. Maria Andualem from Ethiopia said it is quite rare to find young people included in many discussions on issues affecting them.
After meeting various leaders and stakeholders, I appreciated the level of efforts put in place over the years to get us to where we currently are. I met women leaders who have been in the fight for over 40 years. 40 years! I learnt that this work requires commitment, sacrifice and continuous efforts to achieve our objectives.
It also taught me to be courageous- to speak out no matter the situation and to continue advocating in different spaces whether local or international. Most importantly, I learnt that we can get the Africa we want. We need teamwork an3d focus on the end goal: Africa for Africans by Africans.
About Youth for Health (Y4H)
Youth for Health (Y4H) is a three-year initiative designed to increase and sustain access to adolescent sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights for girls and young women and contribute towards changes in favour of supportive policies and funding environments for ASRHR. The project is being implemented in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia and co-funded by the European Union.
In Kenya, the project is implemented in partnership with Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW), MSI Reproductive Choice, and Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA).
DSW, in collaboration with the CSOs network under GIMAC, submitted a call to action on the inclusion of an SRHR policy framework that ensures friendly access to sexual reproductive health services and prevention of gender-based violence among young people including adolescent. The call to action also sought to inspire commitments for the implementation of the Maputo Protocol as per the AU 2023 theme of Accelerating African Continent Free Trade Area.
