SPOTLIGHT
Speakers
shine, roar and take home inspirational messages
Mary Helda Akongo from Uganda shared her journey through domestic violence to becoming a program manager at Zimba Women – a social enterprise providing tools and technology platforms, business training and mentoring to women and girls in sub- Saharan Africa. Zimba Women has helped more than 10,000 female entrepreneurs from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda and provided support for over 200 small and medium-sized women-owned enterprises.
“The One Young World Summit experience is hard for me to describe because it exceeded all the expectations that I had,” Helda Akongo told the OFID Quarterly. “I sometimes sit back and remember the words of wisdom and actions of different counselors who inspired me and have challenged me to be and do better. “Sharing my story on stage was a truly life- changing experience for me,” she added. “I found so much strength and courage in the support of the community. It gave me the opportunity to shine and roar.”
OFID also sponsored Tamana Asey to attend the OYW summit. Asey is an advocate for women’s health and rights in her home country Afghanistan. An obstetrician and gynaecologist by profession, she has campaigned against ‘virginity testing’ – a practice condemned by the World Health Organization as degrading, discriminatory and unscientific. She continues to raise awareness and dispel the myths surrounding virginity testing.
“If you’re a young leader contributing to the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) and you want further support, inspiration, recognition and persuasion, then attend One Young World,” Asey told the OFID Quarterly. “It’s like a family from all over the world giving you all the positive vibes, cherishing your work and standing by you. “I am taking back the message don’t let anything limit your creativity: not your age; social constructs; not what’s imposed on you; not even your job. Go and look for barriers to SDGs in your society and work to change them.”
Following the One Young World summit, OFID- sponsored Tunisian delegate Aya Chebbi was appointed the first African Union (AU) Youth Envoy, charged with helping mobilize support for Africa’s Agenda 2063, among other sustainable development-related targets. In 2015, Chebbi founded the Afrika Youth Movement to raise the profile of African youth in regional and international discourse.
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Mary Helda Akongo (left), Tamana Asey (above) and Aya Chebbi (below)
AN A-LIST LINE-UP OF OYW COUNSELORS INCLUDED:
• Former UK prime ministers John Major and Gordon Brown
• Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland
• Sudanese-British businessman Mo Ibrahim (of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation)
• Unilever CEO Paul Polman • Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman – a journalist, politician, and human rights activist from Yemen
• Nobel Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus – a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and more.
PHOTOS: One Young World
PHOTO: Courtesy of Aya Chebbi
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