By: James Kityo, The Key Correspondents Programme
The Key Correspondents Programme is covering the Women Deliver 2013 global conference live from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 28 – 30.
At Women Deliver 2013 this week, two key partners for the Link Up project, the ATHENA Network and the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA), met with youth leaders from around the world on a range of issues that affect them when it comes to services for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and HIV. Read more...
A few days ago, my 17-year-old daughter asked for help on a school project about "Generation Z." I Googled it immediately. Apparently, "Generation Z" describes those born at the tail end of the Millennial generation (approximately 1982-2002). They are the first generation to grow up with a computer in their home. They are reliant on technology to communicate and surveys indicate that they text and tweet as much as almost 80 times a day. 
As most great things do, Teen Revolt began as a dream. Ateba’s dream was birthed out of her own personal tragedy. As a young girl, she suffered abuse. At ten years of age, each little girl has a right to live her childhood dreaming of being a princess and playing tea party and not being abused and told that she looks like a prostitute by her father. Ateba did not even know what that word meant at ten years old, but the words spoken by her father did indeed come true. Not thinking that she was worth anything but to give her body up for sale, Ateba turned to prostitution to support her first son. 
The story of a young woman who endured both domestic violence and a court system that is unfriendly to the poor. A hard-working, law-abiding young woman who made the wrong decision of entering into a relationship with someone she thought she knew. During this relationship she endured physical, mental and emotional abuse. Not only did she had to literally run for her life, but the life she now has she can barely call her own because of her country’s inhumane, unfriendly and insufferable legal system which she had to turn to for help.
It turns out that being voted a class monitor, prefect or student leader in primary, high school and university might actually be a good predictor of one’s success later in life. For many world leaders today, leadership did not come when they already had grey hair – it all started in school. Academic achievement is part of the success story, but it’s not the whole story. This is the wisdom that drives Florence Mwitwa and Maureen Anyago, two 27-year-old university students, who were recently selected to represent the country in the 2013 Women Deliver conference Malaysia later in May. 
United Nations 
In March of this year, on International Women’s Day, I asked, 
With the world’s population now at 
There is not one corner of this continent that should not hear this message: end child marriage. This was a sentiment shared by more than 90 member organisations, associates and supporters of 
... despite half of the world's youth living on less than two dollars a day.
It is a cold rainy day, and a pregnant mother’s water has just broken. A young man stares at the pouring rain hitting the muddy path and sighs. He has no way of getting his wife to the health center that is a two hour walk from his mud-thatched house. He has no money, his bicycle tires are worn out, and they both have no idea what to do! She dies as a result of obstructed labor. 
Today, we celebrate the first-ever International Day of the Girl to honor girls around the world and advocate for their rights. Girls and women are the backbone of healthy, productive families, communities, and nations. Their unpaid labor amounts to one-third of global GDP, and they operate the majority of small farms. Simply put, when girls and women survive, the world thrives. 
