As we mark International Youth Day in the midst of a global pandemic, we witness how young people are taking action to solve problems in their communities. Young people have been frontline responders to the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilizing across the world as health workers, activists, innovators, social and community workers.

Like many young people in Eritrea, Fatma Hamid’s dream was to complete her schooling, do her national service, and get a university degree. But her father had a very different vision for her future, one that he planned in secret. She took her life into her own hands.

One of 11 children, Ruth Kalenga’s father died when she was in her second year of high school. During this period, she fell pregnant. “We suffered with my child,” she said. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, her story is not unique. By age 18, 27 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 have given birth, and almost 5 per cent by age 15.