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Aaron Charungwa Moyo
Youth Buzz
AT just 18 years of age, Kimberley Fusire is capturing international attention in ways that many girls of her age can only dream of.
Last month, the Upper Sixth learner from Nyatsime College in Chitungwiza was named patron of the World’s Children’s Prize (WCP), an honour bestowed on her by Her Majesty, Queen Silvia, of Sweden.
By being made a patron of WCP, she joined luminaries like the late former South African President Nelson Mandela and his widow Graca Machel, who were once patrons of the organisation.
Fusire presently serves as Minister of Energy and Power Development in the Junior Cabinet and Member of Parliament for Zengeza East in the Junior Parliament.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, Fusire said she received the WCP recognition after working with the organisation for several years.
“I joined the World’s Children’s Prize programme at the age of 10 as a child rights ambassador through Shamwari Yemwanasikana, a local NGO (non-governmental organisation),” she said.
“WCP has its foundation in Sweden. I was elevated to be a patron of WCP recently at this year’s annual meeting in Sweden. The annual meetings are held to discuss issues affecting children in their countries and help formulate solutions.”
Fusire was given a certificate for her elevation as WCP patron, and it reads: “The World’s Children’s Prize Foundation envisions a world where the rights of the child are universally respected and where every new generation grows up as humane changemakers in support of equal worth for all people, the rights of the child, human rights, democracy and sustainable development.”
Other WCP patrons include the late South African anti-apartheid activists Ahmed Kathrada and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South Sudan’s model and activist Alek Wek and East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.
Nyatsime College principal Dr Shepherd Masaraure said Fusire’s achievements are inspirational to other young people.
“She has shown her peers that only the sky is the limit for young people. We are so proud that she has put our institution on the international map and we want our other learners to learn from her and emulate what she has done,” he said.
The WCP programme is one of the world’s largest annual educational initiatives for empowerment of children.
Since 2000, the WCP says close to 50 million children have participated in its programmes to become child rights ambassadors and changemakers for their families and communities.
Online Reporter