From preventing violence and abuse to protecting shared environments, young people in Mtwara are learning that leadership begins with the choices they make in their own communities.
International Youth Day dialogue in Tandahimba, Mtwara
What does youth leadership look like in everyday life?
In Mtwara, it can mean speaking out against violence, supporting a peer, starting a community initiative, reducing waste, or taking responsibility for the spaces people share.
Through two recent activities, Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Tanzania encouraged young people to move beyond awareness and see themselves as active contributors to peace, community development, and environmental stewardship.
Together, the activities carried a common message: young people are not simply beneficiaries of change. They can help lead it.
From awareness to responsibility
That message was at the center of an International Youth Day dialogue in Tandahimba, Mtwara, where young people joined government and community stakeholders to discuss violence and abuse linked to gender, youth participation, economic opportunity, social cohesion, and peacebuilding.
Rather than treating these as separate issues, the dialogue explored how they intersect in the everyday lives of young people.
Mr. Benson Daud, southern zone manager at GPF Tanzania, encouraged participants to recognize the responsibility that comes with their influence:
“Young people should not see themselves only as beneficiaries of peacebuilding programs. They have an important responsibility to become peace ambassadors, speak out against gender-based violence (GBV), encourage other young people to engage in productive activities, and take action when they see violence in their communities.”
Participants discussed what that responsibility could look like in practice: speaking against violence and abuse, reporting harm, supporting peers, engaging constructively with others, and becoming involved in productive community activities.
Mr. Boniface Minga, a district-level government representative, similarly encouraged young people to use their influence positively through dialogue and cooperation.
For participant Fakhum Athumani, the conversation connected peace with collective action:
“I have learned about the importance of maintaining peace in our communities. I have also learned that young people should work together, form small groups, or establish different organizations to contribute to the development of our Tandahimba community.”
International Youth Day dialogue in Tandahimba, Mtwara
Community Development Officer Latifa Malange also reflected on gaining a stronger understanding of gender, peace, and opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs.
The value of the dialogue, however, would ultimately depend on what happened after participants left the room.
Young people were encouraged to become peace ambassadors, advocates against violence and abuse, entrepreneurs, community mobilizers, and constructive voices among their peers.
Responsibility for the places we share
That same idea of youth responsibility took another form at Mtwara Technical School.
There, GPF Tanzania engaged 50 students—24 young women and 26 young men—in an interactive session connecting environmental protection with cooperation, responsibility, and peacebuilding.
Students explored waste reduction and the 4Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover, while considering how the way communities manage shared resources affects collective well-being.
Activities including Waste Journey Map, Waste Detective, From Waste to Value, Clean Community versus Polluted Community, and the Waste-to-Peace Chain helped students examine the consequences of everyday environmental choices.
The session also encouraged them to think differently about waste—not only as something to discard, but sometimes as a resource that can be reused creatively.
One student, Frank Joseph, shared an example of a used wine bottle being transformed into household decoration and reportedly sold to an overseas buyer. While the account was not independently verified, it helped illustrate the larger lesson that creativity can turn discarded materials into something useful.
International Youth Day dialogue in Tandahimba, Mtwara
From learning to action
As in Tandahimba, the focus eventually shifted from what young people had learned to what they could do next.
Students committed to reducing littering, participating in cleaning and tree-planting activities, protecting water sources, and encouraging more responsible waste management.
Hamza Mohamed reflected:
“We need to take responsibility for our environment beyond this workshop. Students should participate in environmental activities, reduce littering and encourage others to take care of the places we share.”
Loveness Daniel added:
“Young people can become environmental ambassadors by educating others and taking part in activities that protect our school and community environment.”
GPF Tanzania also provided the school with two dustbins to help students put those commitments into practice.
Leadership starts where young people are
The Tandahimba dialogue and the Mtwara Technical School activity addressed different challenges, but they asked young people to do something similar: recognize their own capacity to influence what happens around them.
Preventing violence and abuse may begin with speaking up, supporting others, or challenging harmful behavior. Environmental stewardship may begin with reducing litter, protecting water, or encouraging classmates to care for shared spaces.
Both require responsibility, cooperation, and the willingness to act.
For GPF Tanzania, this is where youth leadership becomes practical: not simply giving young people a voice, but helping them see where that voice—and their actions—can make a difference.
Young people are not only part of conversations about peace and development. They are already helping shape what those communities can become.
