ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Melanie IDEHEN
Melanie is an online Cohort 2 Alumna and had served as the South-South Regional Representative of the YALI RLC Nigerian Alumni Body. She is a young activist, researcher, gender equality evangelist and final year medical student with over 6 years experience in community development. Her greatest passion is bridging the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ with emphasis on women’s health and rights in Nigeria.
Her foray into community development began in 2013 when she worked as a volunteer teacher at an orphanage during an ASUU strike which lasted for about 6 months; this experience opened her eyes to existing inequalities that need to be addressed.
Since then, she has been an avid volunteer and has been involved in executing numerous projects focused on Poverty alleviation, Girl Child Education, Female Empowerment, Universal Health Coverage, Youth involvement in governance and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
In 2018, she began her advocacy journey with ONE as a Youth activist and Champion representing Edo state.
She works on the frontlines of the fight against extreme poverty in Nigeria and has been actively involved in several campaigns on Girls Education #Girlscount, Healthcare reforms #MakeNaijaStronger and the just concluded Vote your future campaign: for which she was one of 10 youths selected to drafted The Youth Declaration, 'an inspirational and aspirational piece that emphasizes the need for government to create more opportunities for the youths by making strategic investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture and the fight against corruption'.
She is also hard at work to ensure that youths are represented at the decision making table and have unrestricted, non-judgmental access to reproductive health services.
She is a Life Planning ambassador in Edo State for Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative Project under the TCI initiative, managed by The Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute.
She is a member of the State Technical Working Group for Adolescent and Youth Health and Development (STWGAYHD) and the community lead for the 'SheDecides Movement' in University of Benin.
In August 2018, she founded Eureeka: an undergraduate medical research community poised to stirr up and train undergraduates to take up research, scientific reasoning and innovation as a means of tackle Africa’s unique problems.
She is an intellectual powerhouse; a firm believer in girl power, breaking and eliminating inequalities.
She desires a Nigeria and world where women and youths do not just survive but thrive.
She enjoys travelling, reading and a good cuppa tea. Her mantra is 'Be the change you seek’.
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