“In terms of leadership…I can also contribute, and not just reach out and be given things. [The training] has changed this in me.”
On the morning of January 29, 2020, a 24-year-old university student named Zeinabou Lawan Issoufou from Zinder shared her experiences with University Leadership for Change (ULC). She explained how Niger’s groundbreaking program made an impact on her life.
“Now I feel free,” said Zeinabou. “It’s like I am my own boss, and I like that.”
Zeinabou was one of 15 university students who joined our workshop to plan a new evaluation and documentation activity using a participatory action research (PAR) approach. For three full days, these dedicated young people joined me, four of my colleagues from E2A and Pathfinder International, and an international consultant with PAR experience in a large conference room at the Africa Hall Complex in Niamey. Our goal: identify questions to investigate together and make a plan for carrying out our investigation.
Before launching into the planning, however, we wanted to hear from our young partners about their experiences with the program, identified by the Ministry of Health as a best practice that should be scaled up throughout the country.
Listening to these young ULC leaders really inspired me. I was reminded why it is so important to meaningfully involve young people in programs and in research—because it makes a difference in their lives.
What is the ULC program?
Initiated in 2014 by E2A and Pathfinder, ULC aimed to improve young people’s access to and utilization of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Niger. The program started at Abdou Moumani University in Niamey and scaled up in 2016 to three other universities in the country, including the University of Zinder. In 2017, E2A and our partners in Niger adapted and expanded ULC to rural, community-based settings in Zinder—calling this the “Community Leadership for Change (CLC)” initiative.