Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian multi-award-winning Pan-African activist. She is the first ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet. She rose to fame as a voice for democracy and shot to global prominence as a political blogger during 2010/2011 Tunisia’s Revolution.
She is the founder of multiple platforms, such as Afrika Youth Movement (AYM), one of Africa’s largest Pan-African youth-led movements, Afresist, a youth leadership program and multimedia platform documenting youth work in Africa, and Youth Program of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring (Y-PHEM) which is geared coaching the next generation to be positive change agents.
She is also a co-founder of the Voice of Women initiative (VOW-I), a feminist collective that empowers women through advocacy and access to the digital space. VOW-I coaches correspondents in various cities across the globe to document the stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things. The platform has so far published about 200 stories, trained 35 correspondents and successfully implemented field projects on health, peace and the safety of women.
In 2020, Chebbi became a serving member of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR), an independent group saddled with examining how the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries have handled the COVID-19 pandemic under the co-chairwomanship of Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Chebbi has been widely recognized as a strong driver for Pan-Africanism, among them are, 2019 Inaugural List of 100 Most Influential African Women, 2019 Most Influential People of African Descent in the Politics & Governance, 2018 Apolitical World’s 100 Most Influential Young People in Government and 2016 among 100 Most Influential Young Africans in the World.
She is also a recipient of multiple awards, including the 2019 Gates Foundation Campaign Award, 2018 Young Talent of the year by UNLEASH Festival, 2017 Pan-African Humanitarian Award by Pahawards and 2016 Inspirational Woman of the Year by Women4Africa Awards.
Indeed, Chebbi’s extensive experience over the past decade has made her an influential leading voice reputed for rebranding Africa and commitment to youth empowerment, Peace building and Africa’s integration.
