More than three dozen young African leaders are recognized among international recipients of the Diana Award, an annual award beginning in 2017, that honors youth for their contributions to positive social change in the spirit of the late Princess of Wales. Among those selected is journalist Zanji Sinkala of Zambia,…
Young climate change activists from across the globe have received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, for their work in the Fridays for Future movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg of Sweden. “We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are challenging…
The Time Magazine portrait of Swedish climate champion Greta Thunberg got lots of attention on social media, but she was just one of 10 people named as Next Generation Leaders – and three of them have ties to the African continent. First up is Tunde Wey, above, the 36-year-old Nigerian…
Students in Kenya marched to the edge of the Karura Forest in Nairobi to demand action on climate change, joining young people in 123 countries who participated in Friday’s Climate Strike – a massive undertaking in more than 2,000 cities. “Every single person who came out to march today is…
They say the camera doesn’t lie, and young activists in Mozambique are using photography to speak the truth and make the streets of Maputo safer for themselves, especially women and girls in their communities. Using a program called Photovoice – an empowerment technique used across the world – students are…
William Kamkwamba of Malawi has special plans for Sunday: He’ll be on hand for the public premiere of “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” the movie about his own life, at a special screening hosted by the United States Embassy in Lilongwe. Kamkwamba, now 31 years old and an engineer,…
Somali-American Ilhan Omar was sworn into office on Thursday, and is now representing the state of Minnesota as one of two Muslim women who are the first to serve in the United States Congress. Omar is one of more than 100 women who are now members of the 116th Congress,…
There was no Boxing Day concert for Bobi Wine in Uganda as security forces again shut down plans for his show and sent military vehicles to seal off the location site. That’s according to Wine, a popular political opposition MP whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi and who has found…
Rebeca Gyumi of Tanzania was honored Tuesday for her human rights work, during an awards ceremony for the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. Gyumi is the founder and executive director of the Msichana Initiative, a Tanzanian organization with a mission to empower girls through education and…
Music icon John Legend headlined this year’s Global Citizen Festival in New York City on Saturday, joining other celebrities and leaders in appealing for action on global poverty, climate change and other pressing issues. The concert, planned to coincide each year with the United Nations General Assembly, is the final…
There’s little consensus on migration in Europe or North America, but there’s agreement in Africa that the issue needs to be viewed through fresh eyes – and that’s the point of Generation Africa, a documentary project seeking filmmakers to tell the story. STEPS (Social Transformation and Empowerment Projects) is a…
Efe Obada’s dream to play in the National Football League in the United States came true on Saturday. He made the cut for the Carolina Panthers after spending last season on the practice team through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, an initiative that launched in 2017. Now the Nigerian-born…
Protesters took to the streets again Sunday night in Tunisia, where the disputed outcome of a football match has sparked three straight nights of demonstrations. The crowds in Gafsa, a troubled Tunisian crossroads city about 200 kilometers inland from Sfax, blocked streets and burned tires to protest a referee decision…
A Zambian asylum seeker in the United States is anxiously awaiting a court decision to determine if he’ll be able to participate in a spoken-word poetry contest that he’s currently been barred from entering. Allan Monga, 19, arrived last summer in the coastal city of Portland, Maine, and lived in…
Remember the Ghanaian teacher whose social media post went viral after people saw he was teaching IT classes without a computer – and drawing the entire Microsoft Word interface in chalk every day? Richard Appiah Akoto, the teacher at the Betenase M/A Junior High School in Sekyedomase, is now in…