We often refer to youth as the leaders of tomorrow, but Plan International has the privilege of working with youth worldwide who are making change happen in their communities today. There are many children’s rights issues that continue to prevail in our world, and the task of eliminating them all can be daunting. But from trafficking to gender equality, youth are making strides in inspiring ways and tackling the status quo one step at a time. We’re proud to provide youth leaders with a platform, opportunities and support to help them create a better future for all children. 

Read the inspiring stories of five youth leaders.

Sabina, Nepal

“If girls know their rights, they can educate the new generation and help the country develop.” 

Sabina is 17 years old and lives with her family in Nepal. She used to be involved in a Plan International-facilitated adolescent girls' club: a community-based girls' group where girls learn about various issues and organize awareness-raising events. She was encouraged to get further involved by learning and spreading awareness about children’s rights. Now Sabina leads training in her community on how child and human trafficking can happen. “In my opinion, luring children and young people in the name of giving them a good education, then abusing and exploiting them in various forms, like not giving them enough food for their work, or giving them other kinds of work, this is child trafficking.” 

More than 8,000 girls and women are trafficked in Nepal every year.

When taken from their homes, women and girls are sexually exploited in brothels, forced into child marriage, domestic servitude and working in clothing factories. Men posing as boyfriends lure vulnerable girls with the promise of good work and a new life. “I know someone from my community who was taken. She was lured by a man, thinking he would marry her and give her a good education. But later, she realized she was taken away to be sold. She was saved at the border and returned home.” 

To combat trafficking in Nepal, Sabina and her friend Sarita started a petition and got over 46,000 signatures in support. The petition was presented to their Mayor and he agreed to run a public awareness campaign on the issue. 

Erika, Ecuador

“Sex education is so important too for both parents and young people as it enables us to be free to make decisions about our own lives and bodies.” 

Erika is 18, and teen pregnancy is very common in her community. To combat this issue, Plan International started a program called “Teenage Pregnancy Free Zones” that provides education and training around the causes and consequences of teen pregnancy. Erika got involved and appreciated the safe space where youth learn and talk about sexual health and self-esteem. Participants organize events and share their knowledge with their parents. 

“A friend of mine got pregnant when she was 14 years old. I knew her from school, and she used to tell me that her parents never paid her much attention – they encouraged her to leave school and look after the family’s animals instead. When she fell pregnant, her parents’ first reaction was to beat her. The baby’s father, who was 17, didn’t want to know. His parents took his side, saying it was her fault she got pregnant.” 

Teen pregnancy prevails in her community because there’s a lack of communication between parents and their children, low self-esteem in girls, and no access to sexual health education. “In my class at school, most girls didn’t receive any sex education. So they’d get pregnant at 13 or 14 and have to leave school because boys would make fun of them for being pregnant… Information about and access to contraception is so important because they give us a way of preventing pregnancy.” 

Approximately 16 million girls aged 15-19 years give birth each year. 

Complications during childbirth and pregnancy are the leading cause of death for teenage girls. What gives us hope is that girls like Erika are determined to change the story for girls in their communities. Erika leads workshops that focus heavily on self-esteem and challenging gender norms. She advocates for youth having access to sexual and reproductive health education to make the best decisions for their futures. She’s met Ecuador’s First Lady to discuss girls’ rights and how to combat gender-based violence in her country. 

Jhony, Brazil

“Football is a team sport. It requires companionship and dedication. A lot of people say it’s just a boy thing, but this isn’t true. Girls also have the right to play whatever sport they want, to have the same opportunities as boys, on or off the field.” 

Jhony was raised by two strong women – his mother and grandmother – and saw the challenges that women face every day. When he was a teenager, Jhony joined Plan International’s Healthy Adolescent program, which encourages young people to discuss sex education, discrimination, domestic violence, citizenship and gender equality. “Participating in this project made me realize that my community had a lot of problems and gave me the information I needed to try to change this.”

He also joined a Plan International local Gender Equality program. Jhony took part in workshops and training sessions to develop the skills and knowledge he needed to become a young leader who could raise awareness about the rights of girls and women and the fight for gender equality. Jhony passed along everything he learned and continued the conversations with family, friends and teachers at school. Thanks to him, people in his community began talking about safe sex, sexual abuse and women’s rights. Now Johny wants to continue scoring goals for equality in college with La League; a project developed by Plan International that reflects on unequal gender relations through football.

Aneeka, Australia

“Gender equality has the power to transform entire societies, not just the lives of women and girls.” 

Aneeka is 23 and a dedicated gender equality activist, both in her home country of Australia and internationally within the development sector. She’s focused on intersectional discrimination working with migrant and refugee communities transitioning to life in Australia, as part of her volunteer work. She has supported gender-based and domestic violence survivors at women's shelters in Peru and girls’ education initiatives in Cambodia. She’s also focused on creating safer and more inclusive cities for girls and women. 

Aneeka recently participated in Plan International’s global seat-sharing program and became CEO of Metro Trains in Australia to mark International Day of the Girl. Alongside other youth campaigners, she briefed the Metro Trains executive team on an idea for an app that would enable women to report incidents of sexual harassment. Today, the app is under development. “The working partnership we have developed with Metro Trains and their eagerness to be involved has been truly fantastic. In a workplace primarily dominated by men, especially within their executive team, being allowed to brief them and share our experiences on public transport as young women was a rare and valuable experience for everyone involved.” 

According to a survey conducted by Plan International, which asked 400 experts across six continents to share their perceptions on girls’ rights and urban safety, sexual harassment is the number one safety risk facing girls and young women living in cities worldwide.

Aneeka was pleased to know that Metro Trains ultimately had the same goal as the youth: they all wanted women and girls to feel safe when using Melbourne’s transportation system at any time of the day or night. “Our opinions were listened to, validated and taken seriously, and now Metro and Plan International are working collaboratively to design a safety app that can be used to report any form of harassment or misconduct on public transport. The app will be beneficial for the entire city, and it is very exciting that this project and app development has stemmed from a group of young women and the power of their voices!” 

Often when transportation systems are designed, young women are not at the table and do not have the opportunity to voice their concerns. This is the case in cities across the globe. But young women like Aneeka are skillfully changing this norm and we are so proud to support their actions.

Sifat, Bangladesh

"I have a dream of a world where no one is treated differently or becomes a victim of violence just because of their gender." 

Sifat is 22 and has been a champion of children’s rights issues since 2009 when he started with the National Children’s Task Force in Bangladesh. Since then, his activism has spanned working with Youth for Change with Plan International and on the UN Youth Advisory Panel. Sifat’s activism is focused on ending child marriage and all forms of gender-based violence. He is an initiating member of the Youth Change Makers Coalition in Bangladesh. He has also been instrumental in bringing about reforms to Bangladesh’s 2017 Child Marriage Restraint Act, organizing community-based research studies and high-level, youth-led roundtables on child marriage with INGOs and government officials. 

Each year, approximately 12 million girls under 18 will be married. That’s nearly 1 girl every 2 seconds. 

Through his grassroots work, Sifat has been active in preventing at least 13 child marriages in rural Bangladesh. As a male, Sifat believes it is even more important to work on gender issues and is dedicated to being an ally in the fight for gender equality.

Hope for the future

We remain in awe of all the things that youth can accomplish and the change they can influence with a bit of support and education. In Plan International’s mission to advance children’s rights and equality for girls, youth remain our greatest hope for a better world.