29 young content creators, social activists, web journalists, podcasters, and policy advocates from across Africa have been capacitated on advocacy for girls and women’s education. The training programme took place from November 25 -27, 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme, “Amplifying Opinion Leaders’ voices for the #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign”.
For three days, participants were schooled on strategic courses such as Basic concepts of gender equality in education, advocacy and community engagement, the utilisation of data for advocacy, maximizing social media for advocacy on girls’ education, and building leadership skills for impactful advocacy.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Acting Coordinator of the African Union International Center for Girls and Women’s Education in Africa, Simone Yankey, underlined that, “Girls' education in Africa is not only a fundamental human right, but also a crucial driver of sustainable development and prosperity for our communities. Unfortunately, many obstacles, such as early marriage, gender inequality, humanitarian crises, inadequate infrastructure and climate change, continue to prevent girls from accessing quality education.”
The 29 participants were selected from among more than 2000 applications and were drawn from all 5 sub-regions of Africa. They join the network of nearly 250 African Union CIEFFA Alumni under the Youth Capacity Building flagship programme. Since 2017, the African Union’s CIEFFA has been strengthening youth capacity to promote gender equality in education by empowering young people across the continent. These Alumni are skilled in areas like entrepreneurship, teaching, leadership, advocacy, coding, STEAM, climate change, etc. in relation to girls' education. The Center has cultivated strong advocates at the community level.
The new batch of Alumni, while thanking the Center for this initiative which has boosted their skills in advocacy, have committed to using their community and online influence to advance girls’ education and propagate the #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign.
The meeting also provided a platform for the UNESCO International Center for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) to present the Japanese Grant in Aid project for Capacity Building of Teachers to Promote Continuous and Inclusive Access to Safe and Quality Education for Girls in West Africa.
The Youth Capacity Building is in line with the World Bank’s Sahel Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Regional Project (SWEDD), which contributes to the efforts to enhance women’s empowerment and strengthen their capacity for advocacy. It also aligns with the upcoming Eastern and Southern Africa Girls Empowerment and Resilience (EAGER) development project aims to increase girls and women’s educational attainment.
For further information please contact:
- Azwe Success Barbara, Communications Officer | African Union International Center for Girls & Women’s Education in Africa | African Union Commission WhatsApp: +226 64 90 44 95 | E-mail: BarbaraS@africa-union.org | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
- Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar, Senior Communication Officer - Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission Tel: +251 904 138 354| E-mail: gamalk@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
