Young people in Malawi raise awareness on climate change

This #InternationalYouthDay, we are proud to introduce you to our Youth Advocates, who will work with us to raise awareness about issues that impact children and young people in Malawi.

Meet Zakaat Sambo. Zakaat is a first-year student at Mzuzu University (MZUNI). Zakaat has been involved in UNICEF-led youth engagement programmes since 2017 where he learned digital story telling skills. He uses his passion for digital storytelling to tell stories about the challenges that children especially girls and the youth face daily. In his spare time, he volunteers for community organizations that run public space clean-up campaigns in Mangochi. Zakaat plans to use his role as a UNICEF Youth Advocate to tell stories of children adolescent and youths in the remote parts of the country.

Lisa is passionate about the environment and climate change. Through her role as Malawi’s Climate Change Young Leader, she has mobilized youths to take interest and participate in climate change adaptation activities. She also travels the country conducting environmental awareness talks in primary and secondary schools and is a regular guest on radio programmes on climate change. Currently she is an intern at Civil Society Network on Climate Change where she conducts community awareness and sensitization activities on climate change and monitors the progress of climate change advocacy initiatives in various districts in Malawi. She plans to use her role as a UNICEF Youth Advocate to amplify youth voices on climate change challenges.

Chisomo is an active U-Reporter and an upcoming researcher and innovator. She is a youth researcher for a youth centred organization called Restless Development. She loves data and uses it to bring attention to the challenges that youth in Malawi face like unemployment, lack of access to loans for business, lack of financial inclusion and insufficient support in schools. In her youth advocacy work, she draws inspiration from her own experience as a young person who was born and grew up in Malawi. Chisomo plans to use her role as a UNICEF Youth Advocate to boost digital literacy and online safety among children and the youth.