Sharing knowledge enriches the receiver but costs the provider nothing. FutureLife-Now! is a Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative currently being implemented in six Member States. Now in Phase 2, its overall goal is to promote the development of empowered young people to lead responses to pressing 21st century development challenges, in particular those related to sexual reproductive health and rights, gender and climate change. One of the key strategies …

FutureLife-Now! contributes to the development of healthy and empowered young people who can lead responses to 21st century challenges, including those related to health and education. The programme achieves this through innovative—and sometimes fun—activities, such as competitions and quizzes. In February and March this year, FutureLife-Now! Malawi ran three interschool health quizzes in six of the programme schools: Likuni Girls Secondary vs Lilongwe Girls Secondary, Bzyanzi Secondary vs Madisi Secondary, …

HIV&AIDS—together with issues such as poverty, early and unintended pregnancies and even natural disasters—continues to be a serious threat to young people (especially girls and young women) attaining their full potential, and negatively impacts their mental health and wellbeing. Closely interconnected challenges such as these are exacerbated by the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV), and even more so when it is perpetrated in schools, which are supposed to be places …

The use of “peer educators” to implement FutureLife-Now! is an important feature of the programme in Zimbabwe, Phase 2 of which is now full steam ahead. To ensure that they are fully equipped to maximize programme impact, in May this year the country team organized two dynamic training sessions for nearly 100 educators from 37 schools—the first at the Nashville High School in the Southern Region, and the second at …

Chewe Shonga (22) has grappled with cerebral palsy for most of his life, yet he refuses to let his condition define him. As a learner at the Kabulonga Boys Secondary School in Lusaka, Zambia, he came into contact with FutureLife-Now!, which has allowed him to showcase his extraordinary talents in arts and crafts, particularly in bracelet-making. His journey epitomizes resilience and determination, fuelled by the empowering support he receives from …