Hello, my name is Cherifa and I am a young Muslim from the western part of Cameroon. I am a youth volunteer with the Cameroon National Association for Family Welfare (CAMNAFAW). I will be representing CAMNAFAW when I come to London to be part of the #YouthForChange panel. Young people represent about 43% of the population in Cameroon. They are the main force on growth and development but unfortunately their voices are not heard and they are not prioritized as it should be. They...

Hi, Im Vedika, I’m 19 and I am representing The Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) on the @YouthForChange panel. The issue of youth sexuality and child marriage is a huge challenge facing our country. I noticed that there is still much hesitation amongst the youth during discussion on young people’s sexual rights or youth sexuality with teachers or other elders including parents. Youth are the backbone of a nation. They can change the future of society with their...

Hi I'm Isla, I’m 17 and from Scotland. I've been an Advocate for Girlguiding for a year, which has given me loads of fantastic opportunities like this one! On Thursday 10th July, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jaha Dukureh, a young woman passionate about ending FGM (female genital mutilation) in the USA and founder of Safe Hands for Girls. Originally from the Gambia in West Africa, she underwent this procedure as an infant but only found out when she travelled to the St...

In this modern 21st century, money has become the part of human life. Money in the world is a factor for friendship or enemity; co-operation or war as well as development & destruction too. Money has become the symbol for status & power. Really, money is an important part of human life if we use it properly because the negative aspects about money such as - enemies, war, destruction, or discrimination occur because of human ego & human greed, not all itself by money....

How many times have women been stepped over? How many times have YOU been stepped over because you are a girl? How many times have you been seen as a sexual object? How many times have you LET others step over you because you are a girl? As the years come and go, and the world " evolves " there has been an alarming issue remaining, and it has not ceded -to be honest- it has grown. That issue is the lack of respect, and following of women's and girls rights. We see that women...

Let me start by saying that the Internet is literally the greatest thing mankind has ever invented. One might say that this is hyperbole, but I lack the words to describe the importance of the internet in this day and age. Vital would not even come close to doing it justice. I am hard pressed to name something that you can’t do with the help of internet. And being a student at uni, one can safely say that a lot of my life revolves around the internet. As a disclosure, I will use...

My name is Rahma and I’m 15 years old. I’ve been campaigning against FGM for 3 years in a youth lead group called Empowering which works with FORWARD. I got involved in the campaign against FGM because my mother worked with FORWARD and campaigned against FGM. As I came to learn more about FGM I became more passionate about the issue and became determined to raise awareness about the seriousness of the issue. The #YouthForChange event is about getting ideas for the youth sta...

I’m June, 16, from Nigeria, member of Plan UK’s Youth Advisory Panel, Youth Observer Trustee for Plan UK and blogger for Girls’ Globe. I believe we can end FGM and CEFM in a generation - this happened in my family. When my grandmother was strong enough to speak about FGM, it stopped completely. My mother grew up in Sierra Leone, a country where an estimated 88% of girls undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting or circumcision. But my...