Empowering women and girls is a global movement so immense that even the United Nations established a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) committed to promoting gender equality. This goal is widely known as SDG #5. This month's alumni spotlight has helped to fulfill the goal to uplift, educate, and inspire women and girls by helping girls in Nigeria. Her selfless acts of community service won her a prestigious award on an international platform! Read more about how Aisha Waziri (YES 2011-2012, Nigeria, hosted by YFU in Poughkeepsie, NY) is making an impact on the girl child in Nigeria.

The article below was originally published on IRIS' website on September 26, 2017. To see the original article on Aisha's accomplishments, please click here.

YES alumni return to their home countries with a renewed energy and eagerness to share what they have learned from their year abroad and an unwavering determination to serve their communities. For some, this is noticeable at a local level. For others, their works are noticed internationally, gaining praise from around the globe. One YES alumna’s work received international recognition for the many hours she dedicates to helping young girls and women in her community.

Earlier this month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announced its 2017 winners of the 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders. YES alumna Aisha Waziri is one of those winners.

Aisha Waziri (YES 2011-2012) is a volunteer and youth advocate for the Centre for Girls Education in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Her interest in educating girls about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) peaked when she lost a teen friend due to complications from childbirth, according to Waziri’s statement on her nominee page for 120 Under 40.

Since then, Waziri has mentored over 500 girls in rural communities. She teaches the girls basic literacy, numeracy and life skills. She also helped establish five health clubs in five secondary schools for girls and pioneered a project called “Leaders for Her Health.” Leaders for Her Health is a program to help advocate for young girls and their education on SRHR and family planning. Through this program, Waziri has been able to reach over 1800 people in more than 10 communities.

As a winner of the 120 Under 40 competition, Waziri is awarded $1,000 from the Gates Institute to help her continue her work. Waziri plans on using the money to further the development of Leaders for Her Health and to collect data on the number of girls who need help with SRHR and family planning, which will help Waziri achieve her demographic opportunity.

120 Under 40 is a competition that recognizes and highlights the achievements of young innovators across the globe who are on their way to becoming the next generation of leaders in family planning. The competition selects 40 winners through an application process, public online voting and scoring by a jury of family planning experts and leaders.

The project was formed to shed light on the impact young leaders in family planning are making today. It consists of three stages: Nominate, Vote and Celebrate. These stages take place in 2016, 2017 and 2019 in hopes that the roster will be complete by 2020 in time for the enablement of the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) partnership.

Congratulations on all of your efforts and accomplishments Aisha!