The IAWG ASRHR Sub-Working Group is pleased to announce our 2022/2023 young person co-chairs. After receiving more than 300 applications, the sub-working group’s selection committee, comprised of majority young people, finished its reviews and interviews to select four outstanding young people to serve the ASRHR Sub-Working Group over the next year. Descriptions of each of the young people selected are included below. Alex Mavuti and Liz Lum will serve together from July 2022 until January 2023, while Elezer Berhanu and Shukti Anantha will serve from January 2023 until July 2023. Thank you to everyone who applied and congratulations again to the four finalists.
Liz Lum
Location: Cameroon
Liz Lum is an adolescent advocate from northwest Cameroon, where she and her family were forcefully displaced due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis. Liz describes herself as a feminist activist who is interested in gender equality, freedom of expression, and inclusive societies. She has been at the forefront of working for the rights of girls for more than five years, working with many organizations over the years. Her vision for the world's girls is to take charge of their lives, especially their sexuality, have a voice, and be able to meaningfully contribute to the world's policies and decisions, especially ones that directly affect them. She also wanted to share her quote: "Let's create, claim and influence our spaces."
Alex Mavuti
Location: Kenya
Alex Mavuti is a youth advocate from Kenya. Alex is passionate about sexual reproductive health and mental health. He is a community outreach professional and a youth leader, where he sits as the Lower Eastern Regional Vice Chairperson for Kenya Red Cross, the deputy executive director for Youth for Sustainable Development/Machakos Chapter, and the Youth Drop-in Centre Officer under Deaf Empowerment Kenya, implementing a Global Fund program for adolescents and young people. He is also a certified counsellor under the Kenya Counselling and Psychological Association. He is always eager to apply the knowledge and skills he has with an aim of achieving meaningful impact. Being with the young people and having conversations about their issues puts him in his right element (He calls it home). He is on a mission to empower other young people for them to be able to make informed decisions.
Shukti Anantha
Location: India
Shukti Anantha is a 19-year-old adolescent advocate from Bangalore, India. Shukti is a first year English Honours student studying in Azim Premji University and is a member of a policy-working group called STEPS by The YP Foundation. She has represented the network through many webinars and events during the COVID-19 lockdown. She is a passionate youth advocate for mental health issues and sexual reproductive health issues, and has written an article about the disruption of services during the lockdown as well.
Elezer Berhanu Zewde
Location: Ethiopia
Elezer Berhanu Zewde is a 24-year-old youth advocate from Ethiopia. Elezer is passionate about Adolescents and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRHR) and Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation. He is a final year medical student who works with different organizations to advance Gender Equity and AYSRHR. In one of his roles, he serves as the Chair of the Ethiopian Youth Advisory Council at Engender Health Ethiopia. He also has engagements with Talent Youth Association and Amref Health Africa, where he serves in a youth advisory role.