Albert Mwiinga is a young Zambian youth activist and author whose main interests are climate change and children’s rights advocacy. Though still in secondary school, Albert believes in leaving legacies that will benefit future generations. Biografrica had the privilege to have him on the weekly African Spotlight Series to discuss his motivation for youth and children advocacy, latest book—Be Relevant, climate change and how he joggles his academic life, social media influencing, youth activism, TV and radio personality workloads.
Motivation
Albert’s main motivation for youth activism and children’s rights advocacy is driven by the way human rights are being violated in Africa. “Children are not given rights as children,” he says. Albert stated it all started in 2021 when he attended a leadership seminar, and the speaker made a point about the need to advocate for children’s rights. Since then, he has not looked back, and he is very proud of the achievements and recognition gained over just a couple of years.
The New Book—Be Relevant
The key message in this book is the importance of being relevant. The book emphasises the need for children to be relevant in every aspect of life, including governance. The book was borne out of the need to not only advocate for these rights, but to also document advocacy in a book for future references and cater to people who do not easily comprehend verbal advocacies. In his words, “so that people who cannot understand oral advocacy will be able to read it.” He hopes the readers will be able to understand it as it creates large scale advocacy that will be far-reaching, even more than verbal and social media campaigns. “Readers should be able to know how to begin and what we should advocate for in the book,” he iterated.
According to Albert, another take-away from the book is the need for personal branding, which helps to link “yourself to people in office, and create networking.”
He ended by saying, “people who read the book must be able to know their rights, and stand up for their rights.”
How to Empower Children to Contribute to Climate Change Advocacy in Africa
Albert believes the first step in empowering children to support climate change advocacy is to create awareness. “It’s important to know where we are, because climate is changing,” he says.
The second step is to take pragmatic approaches. For example, he runs a club where they embark on practical journeys to plant 100 trees over a certain period, in helping to mitigate the effects of global warming and climate change. Albert revealed that he is doing this for the next generations, saying, “every activity is aimed at the next generations, as these activities might not manifest in my generation.”
Albert further emphasised that awareness raising, forming of clubs to sensitise the children, and continued emphasis on the need to help the climate will create the required awareness because children learn by repetition, going further to say, “we raise awareness by becoming ambassadors, and we need to be aware of what we do and how we treat the environment.”
Challenges and How He Juggles His Many Hats: Radio, Social Media Influencing, TV, Academics, and Youth Activism
Albert said he has only recently opened social media accounts, and the current following is due to people appreciating his work. He told Biografrica that he is preparing to write his grade 12 (Senior Secondary Exams), “so it is a bit of a challenge because I might slide away from school if I am not careful.” Therefore, he tries his best to create a balance, a coping strategy that he also reveals in his book.
He further advised that you must separate personal life from professional life, which is how he is able to cope.
One of the shocking challenges he has experienced is: people who show interest on social media don’t necessarily exhibit the same level of interest in real life. For example, he organised a physical event for sensitising children on their rights e.g., the right to go to school, and the turn out was not great. However, he has been successful in making children go back to school. In Zambia, there’s free education, which was introduced recently, but people have not fully embraced it, but “due to my advocacy, 23 kids are back to school.” He also explained that he sensitises pregnant teenagers, making them understand they can still go back to school as “education is the greatest equaliser.”
The other challenge is the lack of big organisations to support his course. Albert says even though they have shows on TV and radio on a weekly basis, they do need a bit more support from organisations.
Specific Projects He is Working On and How He Can Be Supported
Albert runs an NGO called Plan For Demand Africa (PDA) that advocates for climate change and children’s rights. It is an organisation that looks at long term plan for Africa, because he noticed Africans only have short term plans. Even though there are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Albert thinks long term plans should be put in place. PDA also makes sure they engage public sector organisations.
Asked how he can be supported, Albert responds by saying he can be supported with logistics such as banners for publicising his advocacy work, and can be reached directly on all social media platforms, and also through his organisation Plan For Demand Africa.
The Impact He Hopes to Create Through Advocacy
Albert is continuously working on trying to engage more people to come on board. “What we advocate for should be heard,” he says. He hopes that future children should be able to enjoy what he is doing now, and the impact should last forever, saying, “if I don’t do it for them, nobody will do it.” He cited Kenneth Kaunda and Abraham Lincoln as people who created better lives for humanity, as his role models. He reemphasised the need for long term plan, and says, “from there, Africa will be a better place to live in.”
You can connect with Albert Mwiinga on Instagram @albertmwiinga_