Blessilla Na-afoe Kandoh from Ghana is OD Young Person of the Month – September 2025 – YOA

Blessilla is a improvement specialist and youth advocate devoted to advancing the rights and properly-being of younger folks, significantly adolescent women and younger girls in Ghana and past.

Read extra about her unimaginable story under:

Growing up in Northern Ghana, Blessilla Na-afoe Kandoh knew firsthand the limitations that younger women usually face. Limited entry to info, societal expectations, and cultural norms usually formed what was attainable for ladies in her group. .

Blessilla’s journey into advocacy started with a easy remark: women in her group had been full of potential however usually confronted a number of limitations and lacked the assist and assets to thrive. Inspired by this, she dedicated herself to creating environments the place younger folks can develop with out concern of judgment or limitation. The path has not been with out challenges; working with restricted assets in communities the place primary companies had been scarce, confronting cultural resistance to ladies’ training, SRHR and management, and navigating coverage gaps that usually silenced younger voices. Yet, via persistence and collaboration, she has continued to push these boundaries and open doorways for others. A robust voice for younger folks, Blessilla has formed advocacy efforts at each nationwide and world ranges, together with contributions to profitable campaigns to take away taxes on sanitary pads in Ghana and United Nations processes similar to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the place her work influenced suggestions on reproductive well being training, gender-based mostly violence, and child marriage. She has additionally spearheaded landmark platforms and supported the institution of youth organizations that proceed to empower a whole lot of younger leaders throughout Ghana.

Academically, she holds a Master’s diploma in Development Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a Bachelor’s diploma in Community Nutrition from the University for Development Studies. In 2024, she was chosen as a Mandela Washington Fellow beneath the U.S. Department of State’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the place she undertook superior coaching in Civic Engagement and Servant Leadership in the United States.

Beyond her skilled work, Blessilla mentors’ younger folks throughout Ghana and past. Grounded in the values of Ubuntu and empathy, she is devoted to creating secure areas for adolescent women and younger girls to entry mentorship, well being info, and life expertise. Her management continues to encourage younger girls to problem dangerous limitations, embrace management, and attain their full potential. For Blessilla, significant change begins with empathy and group empowerment. Having confronted some of these limitations herself, she understands their weight, and this is why she works tirelessly to create the pathways and secure areas she as soon as wanted. Today, she has helped a whole lot of women navigate challenges she as soon as confronted, proving that with braveness, assist, and OPPORTUNITY, younger girls can rework not solely their lives but in addition their communities.

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Read about earlier YPOMs right here.