ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2021
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In 2021, over 25,000 young leaders on 2,000+ campuses across 153 nations applied to join the Class of 2021. 136 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 2,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2021 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT ZULAIHAT BUKOLA ABDULSALAM, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2021.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology | Ogbomosho, Nigeria | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 1
" Inclusive leadership and creativity drive my work. Being a part of the Millennium Fellowship will enhance theses skills collaboratively. The skills i gain from the Millennium Fellowship will make social impact on health related matters in the communities more tangible and aligned with the UNAI principles and SDGs. I am excited to increase my anticipatory competence by envisioning new ways of learning and creativity. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Sex Education for Adolescents
Adolescents in many cultures in Nigeria do not have access to information on sexual matters due to the cultural belief and the taboo attached to it. To promote knowledge of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), the Sex Education to Adolescents (SEA) project was designed to educate and empower secondary school students with age-appropriate information. This project will support young people and give them empowerment by improving their analytical, communication and other life skills for health and well-being about sexuality, human rights, values, healthy and respectful relationships, cultural and social norms, gender equality, non-discrimination, sexual behaviour, violence and gender-based violence, consent, sexual abuse and harmful practices. The use of innovative methods to put the message across, such as comics, infographics have been found effective and will be used. Five (5) schools will be involved, with a hundred (100) participants in each secondary school.
According to UNICEF 2017, 44% of young girls are married before their 18th birthday and 18% are married before the age of 15. Furthermore, Nigeria has the largest number of child brides in the world. Also, Nigeria has the highest absolute number of cases of Female Genital Mutilation in the world with 65% prevalence in the southwestern part of the country. Hence, the project aims at reducing the rate of occurrence of early child marriage, teenage pregnancy and female genital mutilation in southwestern Nigeria by creating awareness, educating members of the community, empowering females in the community and involving the male folks in the campaign. It aims at reaching out to adolescents, both males and females, their parents and significant others, and educating them on the effects of early child marriage on the mother, child and society at large, importance of female education and empowerment, consequences of female genital mutilation, reproductive rights and advocating for the girl child. Involving males in the campaign is due to the essential roles they play in decision making and their impacts on the increasing menace.
About the Millennium Fellow
Zulaihat Bukola Abdulsalam is a vibrant, intelligent and competitive medical student at Ladoke Akintola University of technology Ogbomoso, Oyo State Nigeria. She was born and raised in Nigeria. Been raised in Nigeria a developing country, for as long as she could remeber, Zulaihat has always been passionate about good health and wellbeing of people. This drive and ardour translated itself from Zulaihat's experience in the community and her continous dedication to social action, towards genetic counseling especially sickle cell anaemia which is on the raise despite the fat that it can be prevented and awareness on prevention of HIV. She has successfully organized various projects which through outstanding, she plans to continue in the future. Zulaihat aspires to be in a professional field where she can cultivate these advocacies further and provide her own contribution in the development of the United Nation's sustainable goals.
