Announcing the Finalists for the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens

by on

AFS is excited to announce the finalists for the 2026 AFS Award for Young Global Citizens. This Award recognizes young people for their commitment to improving the global community and whose actions contribute to a more just, peaceful, and tolerant world. The winner will receive a $10,000 prize. 

The final winner of the award will be decided after a pitch competition by an international jury, and announced at the AFS Youth Assembly on August 14, 2026 at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

Every year, numerous applications from around the world are submitted for this prestigious Award. The Award will be given to an AFS Youth Assembly delegate who:

  • Demonstrates how their project is successfully addressing a pressing global issue, tackling one or more of the challenges outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and what this translates into in real-life impacts.
  • Shows how their project successfully engages others outside their own community/culture and how this aspect is crucial to advancing their work. Projects must rely on intercultural understanding and global competence.
  • Articulates how their initiative has significant potential to be scaled up and extended.

The 2026 finalists for the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens are:

  • Olusemiloore Atere: Asido Campus Network (Nigeria)
    • University students in Nigeria face a high burden of untreated mental health challenges exacerbated by severe stigma and a lack of accessible care. To address this, the Asido Campus Network implements a scalable, peer-led support system that trains students as mental health advocates. This solution provides psychological first aid, runs awareness campaigns, and creates safe referral pathways to appropriate care.
  • Aramide Kayode: Talent Mine Academy (Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria)
    • In Nigeria’s low-income communities, severe educational exclusion and unaffordable school fees trap children in a cycle of generational poverty. Talent Mine Academy tackles this by operating a tuition-free school that provides fully funded education, meals, and psychosocial care. Through an interdisciplinary, problem-based curriculum, the academy equips children with the leadership and employability skills needed to rise out of poverty.
  • Gabriel Domoninge Naa: STEM FOR ALL (Ghana, Wa)
    • Underserved students in Ghana often rely on rote memorization for science concepts, lacking practical exposure to STEM and renewable energy education. STEM FOR ALL solves this by providing low-cost, hands-on Climate and Renewable Energy STEM Kits tailored for low-resource schools. By building and testing solutions with mini solar panels and electronics, students gain practical problem-solving skills to tackle local climate and energy challenges.
  • Elizabeth Quishpi: Empower LATAM UK (United Kingdom)
    • Young Latin Americans in the UK frequently face socioeconomic disadvantages, underrepresentation, and significant barriers to employment. To overcome these hurdles, Empower LATAM UK offers the Latin American Mentorship Programme (LAMP) to provide one-to-one mentoring and employability training. This targeted support helps participants build confidence, expand their professional networks, and access sustainable career pathways.
  • Madeleine Jennifer Ndzana Eloundou: Akuma Reading Rooms (Cameroon & France)
    • There is a pressing need to improve access to quality education and amplify underrepresented African voices within the global literary market. Akuma Reading Rooms addresses this by creating a dedicated platform for African literature and hosting diverse literary and cultural events. The funds generated are used to provide school supplies and educational workshops for children in Cameroon, strengthening the overall book ecosystem.
  • Zainab Alshaber: Phys (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
    • Children today face a screen time epidemic that contributes to sedentary behaviors, obesity risks, and a decline in overall physical and mental wellbeing. Phys tackles this issue with a hardware-free augmented reality platform that turns a child’s body into the game controller. By requiring children to jump, squat, and dodge in real life to interact with the screen, the platform transforms mandatory screen time into joyful physical activity.

Past winners of the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens include:

Watch this video made by Khaled Abdulwahed, an AFS Youth Assembly alumnus, who received special recognition at the 2023 AFS Award competition. The video demonstrates how the AFS Award enabled Khaled to build a house for a refugee family.