The world is battling against a pandemic that is claiming many lives across nations and distorting global trade, travel and economies. The coronavirus disease, (COVID-19) has become a global emergency considering the effects on global growth.  

 

As the pandemic is further affecting employment, education and the mental health of African youth, we acknowledge that COVID-19 is also bringing to light the profound gender disparity in the various sectors. Several studies have predicted an increase in cases of Gender-Based Violence as a result of the lockdowns as victims are trapped with their abusers without adequate assistance. 

 

The voice of young African feminists must be a crucial part of the conversation. Particularly, those who are caught in the digital divide. Rural and marginalized young women are mostly not connected and therefore miss out on the empowerment of the digital revolution. This exclusion also impacts the development field, as young women may not have the opportunities to communicate how COVID19 is affecting their realities, and alternative solutions to this pressing global challenge. In addition, the mainstream narrative portrays the challenges and achievements of women without a critical insight into the intersection of barriers they face. 

 

Therefore, we want to draw attention to Young African Women’s struggles, advocacy and achievements in fighting the global pandemic COVID19 and amplify their voices and actions.

 

The African Union Office of the Youth Envoy launched on International Women’s Day “Africa Young Feminist blog “Sauti صوتي”. Now it will be re-launched in collaboration with the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) to publish “Sauti صوتي” Publication of 25 young women contributions celebrating Beijing+25 featuring untold and underrepresented stories of young women from across Africa and the diaspora showcasing their innovation and impact in the community.

 

Young women across the continent and the diaspora are invited to express through writing, visual or audio/video or any other creative means and artistic expressions, to showcase the impact of women-led actions to address COVID19 and other interlinked issues as well as showcase the daily struggles and challenges young women are facing in the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation. 

 

25 contributions from the blog will be selected and published into a compendium that will be available in both digital and printed versions. Selected submissions will receive a remuneration of 200 USD each for their creative work in an effort to support young women financially in these difficult circumstances of coronavirus outbreak.

 

1. Youth Silencing the Guns (AU 2020 Theme of the Year) Ending all wars, civil conflicts, violent conflicts and preventing genocide in the continent by 2020, sub-themes include;
   • Free- conflict Africa
   • Silencing Poverty & Hunger
   • Silencing Gender Based Violence
   • Silencing Youth Unemployment
   • Silencing Corruption
   • Silencing Climate Crisis
2. Youth Refugee Voices (AU 2019 Theme of the Year) Facilitate efforts to amplify refugee youth voices and call for strengthening responsibility sharing and protection of refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs);
3. Ending Violence Against Young WomenAdvocate for gender equality, young women’s rights and champion AU campaign to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Early Child Marriage (ECM). Regarding this, the AU has designed the Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment;
4. Employment and Education MatchFacilitate efforts for matching education with the future of jobs especially the transfer of skills and technologies and closing the digital divide. Support skills development in STEM;
5. Youth Health and Wellbeing Call for universal health coverage ensuring that adolescents particularly women and girls are not left behind and advocate to address Ebola, sexual and reproductive health rights, mental health and disability rights and the growing burden of HIV besides the current COVID-19 pandemic;
6. Young Peacebuilders Advocate for youth transformative and pan-African leadership and their participation as agents of peace in governance, political and social life.

Timeline 

How to submit

• The length should be 800 to 1000 words for English and Arabic, and 800 to 1200 for French for articles (prose) and max. 3 pages for poetry;
• The submissions must be professionally written and comprehensible with quality content and proper formatting; paragraphs, titles, subtitles, bullet points, etc;
• Make sure that your submission is clearly indexed and referenced.