Joannie of Benin Becomes a Leader

Joannie BEWA is currently working as a general practitioner in a community health center in her country BENIN. She holds many leadership positions in BENIN and is well known at global level. She is the co-founder and the Executive director of Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA), created after the President OBAMA Young African leaders forum. In 2010, she also initiated “Red-Ribbon Campaign”, which was a campaign to educate the population about HIV AIDS issues. In the first six months following the campaign, she led a training program on sexual and reproductive health, reaching to various Beninese communities, including sex workers. 10 000 Youth were reached at national level. In 2012, she designed a project called “Women’s Empowerment Campaign” which was funded through the First Lady Michelle Obama program for Young African Women Leaders. The “Women’s Empowerment Campaign” was implemented through capacities building and mentoring sessions for 2,500 girls and 400 young women entrepreneurs. Her activism was recognized by US Government who selected her in 2012 for the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program under the President OBAMA Young African Leader program. Recently, she is appointed as the first female president of the US Ambassador’s Youth Council in Benin.

Source: World News