Reaching the Last Mile and Speak Up Africa’s youth leadership initiative is a powerful platform that seeks to harness the leadership potential of the youth to spearhead efforts to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) on the continent. 

If Africa is to make significant progress towards achieving the goals of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2030 roadmap on NTDs, leveraging the energy, innovative thinking, resourcefulness and connectedness of its growing young populace is paramount. The youth have a vital role to play in driving awareness and mobilizing positive change worldwide. 

The youth leadership initiative seeks to develop a network of youth-led organizations committed to ending NTDs within their communities and countries through national-level advocacy, action and leadership engagement. The initiative will provide US $250 000 in grants and capacity strengthening to at least ten organizations within Senegal and Niger over 15 months. In addition to funding, program participants will have access to mentorship and resources to support their efforts to engage effectively in decision and policymaking spaces that affect their health. The support network will also unify and amplify the voices of youth-led organizations and their leaders, enabling them to connect with like-minded peers, share knowledge and solutions and bring learnings back to their communities.

To learn more about the Reaching the Last Mile initiative,
visit their website