Johannesburg - On the eve of South Africa’s Youth Day, international advocacy organisation Global Citizen honoured 15 young people from Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa following the completion of its year-long fellowship programme.
Originally announced by Tyler Perry and Ivy McGregor at Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 on December 2, 2018, the Global Citizen Fellowship Programme powered by BeyGOOD is an in-depth work experience opportunity aimed at skills development and empowering African youth.
Over the past five years, the programme has trained and skilled 50 young people from across the continent. The fellows have created their own community programmes that have affected the lives of more than 1 000 people across the continent.
The programme, which is also endorsed by Beyonce Knowles Carter through her foundation BeyGOOD, takes young leaders through a multi-phase curriculum specifically designed to equip and empower them with the skills and leadership tools needed to make a positive impact in their respective communities.
BeyGood’s director of social responsibility Ivy McGregor said it was important to empower young people to be leaders in society.
"I am so excited about your future because you are in it. I want you to literally go out there in the world and conquer … We found that young people, when they finish matric, they have this gap of trying to find work. We wanted to help young people who were committed to making a difference on the continent. So we partnered with our good friends at Global Citizens and created the fellowship programme. Our commitment back in 2018 was that 50 young people will benefit through the eight-year-long, handsomely paying programme to eradicate extreme poverty," she said.
One of the graduates, Hope Mnguni, who hails from Johannesburg, said being part of the programme had empowered her to be a creative thinker, and that she hoped to impact the world through the valuable skills she had acquired through the fellowship.
"As part of the BeyGood fellowship programme, we learnt a lot about soft skills, which we called power skills, leadership, and adapting to a changing world in the first six months. The last six months were all about departmental work. I specifically worked on digital campaigns with marketing elements combined with social change. So Global Citizen is calling for change and for world leaders to take action that can improve our world," she said.
Programme co-ordinator Lipalesa Morake said that with the country’s high unemployment rate, it was important for programmes such as this to receive support. She urged the fellows to leave a legacy through the building of their communities.
"It is our responsibility to nurture and find our legacy in our communities and workplaces. Legacy is a belief system or set of core values that we instil in others. It's the actions that you demonstrate to others. It is the torch that you want to pass on to others," she said.
The Star