Afia Simpande, Zambia
Afia is a young Zambian social development practitioner, entrepreneur, and youth advocate. Her passion and work have a focus on adolescent girls and young women’s health and wellbeing. She has previously worked with Girls Not Brides member organisation Generation Alive, a movement of young women working towards the advancement of women's rights in Zambia. She also worked with Plan International Zambia under a drought response project which also reviewed the interlinkage between child marriages and malnutrition in women and children. Afia is passionate about the promotion of gender equality, women’s and girls’ empowerment, SRHR advancement and creating sustainable livelihoods for families in Zambia. She envisions a world where all people are treated with respect regardless of their age, gender and economic standing, a world where AGYW are free to make decisions about whom and when to marry and can take control of their lives based on equal and accessible opportunities availed to them.