Thokozile Nhlumayo from South Africa
My Work
I am the Executive Secretary of the International Youth Parliament.
The International Youth Parliament is an institution that represents the voice of young people in over 40 countries in Africa and over 15 countries outside of the continent. The International Youth Parliament advocates for the meaningful inclusion of young people in political, leadership, and decision-making roles in Africa and globally. It further equips and empowers young people with leadership skills to assist them in running for political office in their respective countries.
‘Creating Nations Where Young People Lead’ is the core mandate of the International Youth Parliament, we believe that this is the time for Africa and the world to harness youth leadership and the passion and energy that comes with it. This will ensure Africa benefits from an array of human capital that can take the development agenda of the continent forward.
Our call for the inclusion of young people in leadership, political and decision-making roles stems from the realization that Africa is a youthful continent as young people constitute majority of the population in the continent. Therefore, Africa’s most critical demographic (Youth) cannot be ignored and placed at the periphery of democratic and decision-making processes. We want to see young people moving from being recipients of decisions to being shapers of decisions.
Throughout its existence, the International Youth Parliament has contributed significantly to the political and leadership development of the continent of Africa. We have seen our campaign and clarion call – #NotTooYoungToLead being welcomed by the continent and different governments in a number of countries in Africa heeding the call for meaningful inclusion of young people in Leadership, political and decision-making roles in Africa.
Through the campaign of the International Youth Parliament- #NotTooYoungToLead, we have seen youth ascending to positions of power in Africa, we have seen young people reinventing governance and amplifying their voice in politics, Leadership and decision-making.
With the world going through a pandemic, young people are beginning to create a new understanding of what Democracy and Governance should look like. We have seen young people in the forefront of the fight against this pandemic. Never has the world depended on young people like it has right now. Young people possess the necessary skills that can transform the world
My goals for the Mandela Washington Fellowship
The Mandela Washington Fellowship has been an amazing and empowering learning process for me. I came into the fellowship with expectations as a leader but I must say that the fellowship has exceeded my expectations. My experience in the MWF has been nothing short of amazing, I am certainly empowered as a leader. The curriculum content of this fellowship is so rich and is a composite of powerful courses that have had a significant impact in my growth as a leader. Some of the highlights of my learning experience have been- learning about my strengths as a leader through the strength based leadership approach, being able to identify my strengths as a leader and applying them to my daily work and sharing them with my team (also learning from and about my team’s strengths) this has been a certain paradigm shift for me in my journey as a leader. I am shifting from a deficit management perspective to a strength based perspective and I am confident that this will make me a better leader.
Potential Connections I wish to pursue in Detroit
I am very excited to become part of the community in Detroit, I look forward to learning and sharing knowledge with different groups of the community. As someone who works with young people in Africa within the political and leadership space, I think it would be interesting to collaborate with young leaders, activists and all young people that have been in the forefront of advancing change in the community of Detroit. I am hoping to forge fruitful and lasting collaborations.