UNFPA Appoints Botlhale Boikanyo as Regional ICPD Youth Champion for East and Southern Africa

Johannesburg, August 2026 – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) East and Southern Africa Regional Office is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Botlhale Boikanyo as its new Regional International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Youth Champion.

 

Botlhale Boikanyo is an award-winning South African poet, actress, speaker, and youth advocate whose journey from becoming the first poet and youngest winner of South Africa's Got Talent at the age of 11 has evolved into a powerful platform for youth empowerment and social change. As the founder of the Botlhale Boikanyo Foundation, she has dedicated her work to amplifying young voices, championing education and self-expression, and inspiring a new generation of African changemakers through the power of storytelling. Through her advocacy and leadership, she has inspired young people to use their voices and engage in shaping policies and solutions that affect their lives and futures.

 

As Regional ICPD Youth Champion, Botlhale will work alongside UNFPA to amplify the voices of young people across East and Southern Africa and advocate for accelerated action towards achieving the commitments of the ICPD Programme of Action. She will support efforts to advance bodily autonomy, gender equality, access to quality sexual and reproductive health services, and meaningful youth participation in decision-making processes.

 

For UNFPA,  young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the leaders of today. Putting young people at front and centre of sustainable development is both urgent and non-negotiable. Their voices, experiences, and innovations are essential in building the Africa we want.

 

Speaking on her appointment, Botlhale Boikanyo said:

 

“My hope and dream is to live in a world where every young person, especially women and girls, has the freedom and opportunities to shape their own future and is included in the rooms where decisions about their lives are made. Being a UNFPA Champion is another step towards turning that vision into reality. It is an opportunity to amplify the voices of young people through storytelling across our region, and advocate for investments that uphold the rights, dignity, well-being and potential of every young person everywhere.”

 

The appointment comes at a critical moment for the region, where young people in Africa constitute a significant share of the global youth population of 1.9 billion and are leading transformative efforts in their communities. Yet many continue to face barriers to education, healthcare, employment, and opportunities to meaningfully participate in decisions that affect their lives. She believes that storytelling is a catalyst for social change and that young people must not only be heard, but meaningfully included in shaping the decisions that affect their lives and futures.

 

As Regional ICPD Youth Champion, Botlhale will use her energetic presence and platform to engage with young people, policymakers, civil society, and development partners to advocate for investments and policies that uphold the rights, dignity, and potential of every young person.

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ActionSA declares war on Phala Phala 'whitewash'

ActionSA says it will approach the High Court to set aside SAPS disciplinary findings that cleared Major General Wally Rhoode and Brigadier Hennie Rekhoto over the Phala Phala burglary, claiming the process was flawed and failed to properly consider evidence from previous investigations.

In a joint statement, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont and parliamentary Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni, the party said it had instructed its legal team to institute proceedings in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria to review and set aside the disciplinary findings.

“Having carefully analysed the Record of Decision obtained through the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), ActionSA believes the disciplinary process raises serious questions regarding its rationality, its treatment of the evidence, and its stark departure from the findings previously made by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and the Public Protector.

By Hope Ntanzi

Full story at IOL

Oyo school kidnap: ‘We must know who was responsible’ — Makinde asks UN to investigate Oriire school abduction

Governor Seyi Makinde has asked the UN and international human rights bodies to investigate the Oriire school abduction, saying Nigerians deserve a full account of what happened.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has called on the United Nations (UN) and international human rights and accountability bodies to conduct an independent investigation into the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, saying Nigerians deserve to know exactly what happened before, during and after the 56-day ordeal.

Makinde made the appeal in a statewide broadcast after the rescued pupils and teachers were reunited with their families at the Government House in Ibadan.

By Rukayat Badmus

Full story at Pulse NG

As the country turns 250, retired judges hit the road to defend judicial independence

A tour bus carrying retired judges on a tour through
the Rust Belt to defend judicial independence is parted outside the
Westmoreland County Courthouse in
Greensburg, Pa., on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
(Keep Our Republic via AP)

On Friday, a group of retired judges will step off a tour bus in a ritzy Michigan suburb after three days of barnstorming through corn fields, cities and coal towns in Ohio and Pennsylvania. They carry with them a message.

In courthouses and public squares, they have marked the nation's 250th anniversary with a dire warning: The rule of law in America is in grave danger. They will deliver a similar message at a library in Grosse Pointe just outside Detroit — the last stop on an extraordinary tour to defend judicial independence and bolster trust in courts.

Americans' confidence in the court system and democracy has dipped in recent years. The country is more polarized, and President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the fairness of the judicial system.

By SUDHIN THANAWALA

Full story at Yahoo News

'Why It Matters Andy Burnham Is Set To Be The UK's First Labour And Co-operative PM'

Andy Burnham smiles during a campaign visit to
Ashton-in-Makerfield before the forthcoming by-election,
in Manchester, England, Tuesday,
June 9, 2026. via Associated Press

What would it mean to have the first Labour and Co-operative prime minister?

It's a question I have been asked several times over the last few weeks, as General Secretary of a Co-operative Party about to hit one hundred years of electoral agreement with Labour.

My answer is simple: it would be a landmark moment, not just for the Co-operative Party, but for the wider co-operative movement and for British politics.

By Joe Fortune

Full story at Yahoo News

America at 250 and South Africa at a Crossroads

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are reminded that nations, like people, are never finished. They are constantly becoming. Their histories are marked by triumphs and failures, by ideals boldly proclaimed and promises imperfectly fulfilled.

Few countries understand that reality better than the United States and South Africa.

Separated by oceans, languages, and cultures, our nations nevertheless share a remarkable connection. Both have wrestled with profound questions about freedom, race, justice, opportunity, reconciliation, and the responsibilities of citizenship. Both have experienced moments when the world questioned whether they could survive their deepest divisions. Both have demonstrated that history need not imprison a people willing to imagine a better future.

Full story at IOL

By Armstrong Williams.