Blessilla Na-afoe Kandoh is a Youth Advocate who works to improve the lives of young people and create positive change in their communities.
She is passionate about advancing the rights and well-being of young people especially adolescent girls and young women and is dedicated to promoting their interests through advocacy, education, and policy development.
She is currently the Youth Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator at Norsaac, one of the leading National Non-Governmental Organizations in Ghana. Her role includes providing support, guidance, and resources to young people to help them overcome challenges and reach their full potential and leads advocacy and campaign initiatives to promote the rights of young people.
Her academic background is in community nutrition however, she has also worked in diverse areas such as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), human rights, social protection, women and girl’s empowerment, Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Meaningful Youth Participation/Engagement (MYPE) and advocacy. Her work borne out of passion currently involves advocacy on issues of women, children, and youth at national, regional, and global advocacy levels.
As a youth advocate, Blessilla is a very energetic, innovative, and forward-thinking person who is not afraid to challenge the status quo and push for change. She is a skilled communicator and can effectively engage with young people, policymakers, and community leaders to raise awareness about youth issues and influence policy and decision-making processes.
Blessilla has served as a lead facilitator for Camfed, as the marketing executive for Smocky World Limited, and as a business adviser in nutrition for the USAID Feed the Future project over the years.
She also volunteered as a facilitator for Thekla Incorporated, HopIn Academy, and the Youth Speak Up project and is a member of the Junior Chamber International (Tamale Premier) where she currently serves as the Vice President and has previously served as the Marketing and Communications Director in 2017.
Blessilla as part of her achievements has successfully led the development of an alternative report for the Power to Youth Ghana program towards the Universal Periodic Review process in Geneva and the Voluntary National Review to highlight the plight of adolescent girls and young women. She has also facilitated the formation of the Northern Ghana Youth for Development (NGY4D), a coalition of young people across the five Northern Regions spearheading advocacy for the development of the Northern Development Zone.
She has led a team from Norsaac to hold a novel Youth Parallel Session for the 2021 Northern Ghana Development (NGD) Summit to build the capacity of young people from the 5 regions of the North on the Northern Ghana Development Zone and strategy and led them to demand a seat at the decision-making table during the main NGD Summit.
On what she she aspires to become, Blessilla looks forward, “to contributing her knowledge and skills to promote human rights and development, nurture just societies, and be a beacon of hope for African women”.
She credits her successes to what she described as: “blessed with two beautiful daughters and a supportive husband who push me to grow in the development journey”.
