Dear ,
Every year on March 8th, the world pauses to honour women. Speeches are delivered, posts are published, and organisations rightly showcase their female staff and champions. Yet beyond the celebration lies a critical question we must confront: are we genuinely investing in young women, or are we only showing up for them on special occasions?
Across Africa, many young girls and women face structural barriers that limit their participation in leadership, innovation, and civic engagement. These barriers range from cultural expectations and limited access to networks and mentorship to unequal access to funding, training opportunities, and professional visibility.
This is why our commitment to youth leadership must also be an intentional commitment to young women.
Over the years, LEAP Africa has strengthened its programming to ensure that more young women can access opportunities to learn, lead, and thrive. We have continued to design programmes that address the specific challenges young women face while ensuring that our broader youth programmes remain inclusive and accessible. Through initiatives such as the Leadership Accelerator Programme (LAP) for Young African Women, Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP), Social Innovation Programme (SIP), Youth Day of Service (YDOS), we have reached over 30,000 women, equipping them with the leadership development skills to thrive professionally.
We work to equip emerging female leaders with the skills, mentorship, and networks needed to advance their leadership journeys. The programme responds directly to the persistent gender gap in leadership across the continent by preparing a strong pipeline of women leaders in different sectors.
However, advancing gender inclusion requires more than programmes. It requires partnership and collective action. We must continue to remove the barriers that prevent young women from stepping into leadership spaces and ensure that they have the support systems needed to succeed.
Beyond targeted programmes, we are also intentional about ensuring that girls and young women are actively participating and thriving across our broader platforms, such as the Youth Leadership Development Programme, Social Innovation Programme and Awards, Youth Day of Service, E-learning Boot Camp, etc. Within these spaces, we continue to prioritise gender inclusion, ensuring that more young women are not only participants but also innovators, founders, and leaders shaping solutions for their communities.
As we mark International Women’s Day, we reaffirm our commitment to empowering young women across Africa and invite our community of partners, educators, and changemakers to join us in expanding opportunities for their participation.
Happy International Women’s Day!
