Youth Leadership Program
Since the 1960s, AWF has worked to foster the best and brightest minds to lead conservation in Africa. We collaborate with like-minded partners to train future conservationists and change agents, engage young people in conservation learning and advocacy, and mobilize youth to demand meaningful conservation action. All these efforts help create new generations of young people using their talent and creativity to protect Africa’s wildlife and essential ecosystems.
Latest News
Over 100,000 Rwandans to Benefit from Youth-Led Conservation Drive supported by the European Union and African Wildlife Foundation
Kigali, Rwanda | May 30, 2025 — In a cooperative move to address climate change and biodiversity loss, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and the European Union (EU), in partnership with the Sabyinyo Community Livelihood Association (SACOLA), have launched a youth-led initiative set to benefit over 100,000 people living near Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
The initiative to empower Youth for Climate-Resilient Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, equips young people with the tools and support, such as community outreach and education campaigns on the importance of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and sustainable resource management, to restore ecosystems, The area where the EU and its local partners engage is one of Rwanda’s most ecologically sensitive landscapes.
The project launch event, held in Kinigi Sector, Musanze District, brought together over 150 representatives from government agencies, youth-led organizations, civil society, community leaders, development partners, and international donors.
Representing the European Union Delegation to Rwanda, Team Leader Amparo Gonzalez Diez underscored the EU’s support for grassroots leadership and climate…
How We Engage Youth
The AWF-Wall Youth Leadership Program
The AWF-Wall Youth Leadership Program offers nine-month fellowships along two tracks: international environmental policy and conservation management. Participants receive leadership training, professional opportunities, and intense mentorship and coaching support as they develop problem-solving skills through hands-on experience.
>>Learn more about the fellowships
Youth-Led Enterprises
We support young people to boost their income through enterprises that reduce pressure on biodiversity and increase climate change resilience. This includes a training curriculum with modules on business principles and ethics, business proposals, marketing, recordkeeping, financial management, and more.
>>Learn more about youth enterprise initiatives in Zimbabwe
Internships
We partner with the Africa Leadership University (ALU) to offer three-month internships for students to work with AWF programs at either our Nairobi headquarters or in our country offices. The internships allow students to make tangible contributions to conservation with the experience contributing to their required research capstone.
Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network Co-Founder Kevin Lunzalu addresses youth participants at the 15th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022
Global Youth Biodiversity Network - Africa
We support the African chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, or GYBN, by convening workshops and conferences that amplify African youth voices in biodiversity policy agendas.
Since 2018, we have facilitated workshops for country representatives of the GYBN, which is the official youth delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity (or CBD, an international body of the United Nations that shapes global commitments to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and to fairly and equitably share the benefits of biological life), to help these young leaders prepare for deliberations.
We also co-convene the African Youth Summit on Biodiversity, which is a forum for young people from across the continent to highlight their priorities and organize concrete, youth-led action.
>>Learn about how young Africans are rallying for biodiversity
