“Young people have the power to have the kind of nations, continents and world they want”, says Warima Muggi

Warima Muggi (23) from Nairobi, Kenya, is one of the youth champions through  African Monitor’s (AM) youth programme Voice Africa’s Future (VAF), and she is passionate about SDG 3 – which is about ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

Below she tells her story on what propelled her to take part in this initiative:

I was not born with much, just some average brilliance and this serious passion to address issues regarding the female person. This passion does not stem from any sort of bitterness, daddy issues or prior nasty experience with men. On the contrary, I have been surrounded with more men than women my entire life and I can confidently say this has impacted my life very positively.

My gender was never a point of consideration for any serious decision in my first fourteen years. I could do anything and everything that boys my age could do. Unfortunately, that is not a privilege many girls have.

When I joined the university, I noticed lots of disparities in terms of access to opportunities for female students. Then other challenges associated with feminine issues started cropping up. Issues such as SGBV, unsafe sexual and reproductive health practices were order of the day. I knew for me to solve this, I had to have some decision making power of some sort. I made it a personal goal to level the ground for these girls and women. That is how I joined the Women Students Welfare Association, first to represent my campus and later as the Finance Secretary for the entire university.

It is through this position that I got a chance to participate in a training on using data as an accountability tool to advance the implementation of sustainable development goals. I knew about SDGs, learnt them in school and also as Finance Major student, it was my job to know the economic aspirations of the World, What I did not know is that there was a group of young people championing these goals. I had been a lone ranger yet there was a whole group of amazing people who were ready to walk with me. That is how my journey as an SDG champion started. I am a champion for goal no 3 aimed at ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all and goal no 5 that intends to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Young people have lots of power and tools to have the kind of nations, continents and world they want. The only thing they need is guidance and direction to invest their energies and efforts in utilizing these tools and power to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The biggest of those tools is the internet. I am an advocate of the use of social media to propagate positive and progressive social change. That is why I use my social media platforms to sensitize young people about SDGs.

At the end of the line, I would be more than honored to be part of the fantastic team that made significant positive change in the world.

In the words of the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, “A little less conversation, a little more action” is how I want to make a change in the world as an SDG champion.

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