A second-year University of Botswana student majoring in Economics and Psychology, Ms Kabo Mazunga is the recipient of the inaugural Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) Youth Quake Leadership Programme Award.
The 20-year old Ms Mazunga won the award after participating in the inaugural Youth Quake forum in Johannesburg, South Africa early this year. She received a certificate and a trophy. She was among 30 other youths who were selected from eastern and southern Africa after responding to calls for applications to provide leadership and advocacy on sexual reproductive health rights for the Southern African AIDS Trust Youth Hub (SAT4YOUTH).
SAT is an innovative organisation with a regional footprint contributing to improved systems for sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and women in eastern and southern Africa. It is driven by gender equality, community ownership and the agency and aspiration of girls, adolescents and young people. SAT works with a network of over 100 communities, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisation and activists working for universal SRHR in equitable and inclusive systems for health.
Ms Mazunga who is SRHR Programmes Coordinator for the Botswana Youth Hub, says the main aim of the Youth Quake was for participants to work on the four major pillars of advocacy, gender and diversity, leadership and policy in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063 on SRHR issues.
Participants were required to find innovative ways of shifting the terrain on SRHR, through dynamic and influential young leaders who were passionate about SRHR, particular towards SDGs 3, 4 and 5 which advocate for good health, education and gender equality as encapsulated in Agenda 2063 and SAT’s #GIRLPLAN.
The week-long programme entailed the use of social media through blogging, Facebook and other platforms. Participants were required to raise awareness and engage with audiences on key policies that create an enabling space on issues affecting individuals in different spheres of life.
As part of their creative presentations, Ms Mazunga was part of the cast in a short film shot at the conference called Shattered Dreams. The film addressed issues of teenage pregnancy and the role of the youth hubs in such matters.
Ms Mazunga is Young Women’s Leadership Club Coordinator and the youngest member of the Botswana’s SRHR Africa Trust Country Advisory Council. Her aspiration is to become a publisher of feminist action based research because she says she believes in telling stories. She also has passion for advocating for issues that affect young women, reproductive and bodily autonomy as well as addressing gender based violence through SRHR peer education initiatives.