I'm glad that the African Union appointed African Youth Peace Ambassadors for the various regions in Africa. And we've been having consultations rega… - Chido Cleopatra Mpemba

I think it’s great that I’ve had the opportunity. It’s something I do not take lightly. I believe that my role is unique. In that I also have an opportunity to speak to young people, being communities being in civil society, through national youth councils, through Member States, at the same time, I also have an opportunity to speak to the policymakers and the governments. From the Ministers, the Head of States, other Special Envoys. And it gives an opportunity to make sure that you merge that. That the voices of young people, from what I hear from the ground through my youth townhall meetings through the listening tours, reaches the decision-making table, where I’ve had the privilege of accessing the decision-making table. At the same time, also making sure what comes from the policymakers reaches young people too.

I think if I speak about the challenges or something that’s commonly faced with a lot of young people. And it’s when you get into space where there’s already a lot of experience with the people that you’re working with, at times you find yourself putting pressure on yourself just to work harder and to prove yourself. And I think that was the first challenge when I joined, not that anyone had put pressure on me, but I was putting pressure on myself to say, “I need to deliver”. “I’ve been entrusted in this role”. “I’ve been appointed by the Chairperson”. “I’ve been recognized by the African member states”. There’s a lot on the stake for me. Not only there to be most importantly the constituency that I represent, again, will hold me accountable. So, it comes with, you know, that pressure of ‘I need to do it and I need to do it now’ because there’s so many challenges. A lot of challenges were faced with an Africa at the moment from high unemployment to conflict rising, to climate change issues, to democratic governance and the human rights of young people. It’s so much. It’s a lot and, you know, you want to be able to deliver results.

What's come up the most is youth livelihoods. They also want us to focus on accelerating efforts on tackling issues related to climate change and adaptability, climate finance, and climate education.