Aya's story is that of a bold and daring super girl, with a rare zeal for undiluted activism.
A Pan-African at heart, Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian blogger and
activist. Her enthusiasm for blogging was birthed during the Tunisia 2011 Revolution, when she felt the urge to report events from a "Proudly Tunisian" perspective as opposed to the international journalists who were tainting her country's narratives to suit the Western
media’s interests. Today, the blog she started for the simple purpose of documenting Tunisian realities, has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from around the world. Apart from her personal blogging, Aya is a Columnist at OpenDemocracy,
and her articles have been published at Al-Jazeera, D+C for
Development and Cooperation, Your
Middle East and Foresight for Development-Africa. Her impactful work as a blogger has earned her invites to speak at
multiple conferences and seminars, such as the Wheelock Global
Conference in Boston on “Human Rights, Health and Education” as well the
International Lecture of the National Cathedral School in Washington DC
on the “Arab Uprising.” She has also blogged for global events such as
the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in Canada and the World Innovation Summit of
Education in Doha.
Aya is as passionate about Africa, as she is about her country. This passion led her to establish and chair the African
Youth Movement - an action-oriented social movement that strives for
the development, active participation and leadership of African youth in the
fight for peace and social justice. In 2013, Africa also reckoned with Aya when she was honored as one of Africa's 28 Most Outstanding
Women Leaders by the Moremi Initiative’s Leadership Development (MILEAD). Making history as the first Tunisian to be so honored, She received this award in Accra from Hon. Samia
Nkrumah - the daughter of the first president of Ghana and chairperson of
the Convention Peoples Party. During the
ceremony, Aya was opportune to meet the Nobel Peace Price Laureate Ms. Leymah Gbowee, member of
Ghana Parliament Hon.Sarah Adwoa Safo, Ms.Esther Cobbah, Ms.Hendrica Okondo and Dr
Juliette M. Tuakli among other inspirational African women leaders.
Our Super Girl Aya, has travelled to over 20 African countries working with
young people. She is the producer of a documentary called "Kenya's conscious
transformation", a part of her Africa
Inspire Project that aims at changing the negative narrative about
Africa. She has also represented Africa on diverse international platforms over the past four years. Following Tunisia’s revolution, she has widely spoken
about social movements worldwide at conferences and rallies in the United States, Canada, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia
and South Africa among other countries. She is also the co-founder of
the Voice of Women
Initiative and youth advisor of CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen
Participation. Currently, she works as the Director of Strategic Planning and Development at World Peace Foundation.
Aya Chebbi is passionate about volunteering, which gives her ‘a definition of
whom I should be every day, serving others, uplifting others, inspiring
others.’ The young Tunisian started volunteering in primary school, when
she used to clean up her neighborhood on Sundays. She recalls: “I used
to gather with the kids and knock the doors of all the
houses to get people participate in the Sunday cleaning. I think at that
early age, I didn’t see the environmental benefits of my action but I
always had a sense of integrity to live in the community and make people
happy around me.” She previously worked at
the refugee camps during Libya’s civil war then at Bureau de
Cooperation Tunisie-Denmark on youth development projects in Tunis as well as
the Carter Center in Cairo monitoring 2012 Egyptian Presidential
Elections. An adept
mobilizer and organizer, she has mobilized a peaceful protest for the Bring Back Our Girls
Campaign in Sri Lanka.
A global voice to reckon with, Aya was recently invited to New York to deliver a
speech during the 59th session on the Commission on the Status of
women. She spoke at the celebratory
commemoration after high-powered speakers and celebrities including
President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Hillary Clinton, Ban Ki Moon,
Melinda Gates and Farhan Akhtar among others.
She has committed her life to reuniting North Africa with the rest of the continent based on her pan-africanist vision, fighting racism and terrorism inside the continent and promoting African values and youth agenda internationally. She has witnessed historical moments at Occupy Wall Street in New York, Occupy Gezi in Istanbul, Presidential Elections in Egypt and Al-Shabab terrorist attack in Kenya. She considers these experiences her strive to further make a difference in the world and fight for peace and social justice. Despite being blacklisted and banned from entering Egypt since March 2014, Aya remains undaunted - pressing forward with her multifaceted activism. She received the "Excellence in Leadership" Award by the African Youth Awards, earlier in the year.
Girl Pride Circle is wholly supportive of Aya's contribution to youth participation and activism. She is a worthy role model to all super girls in Africa and we are very proud of her!
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