The student of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Burundi and founder of the organization ‘Union of Women for Sustainable and Inclusive Initiatives’ (UFIDI), Ornella Munezero, took a flight on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, to the United States of America. She will participate from June 18 to July 28, 2025, at Newark, in the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship program of the ‘Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)’ that prepares young Africans in leadership skills.
Asked, before her departure at Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, by TIC-Actuality about her expectations at the end of her mission, Ornella Munezero first reminded that she is committed to community development and the promotion of education for young girls in Burundi through her organization’s project “KOBWA Academy” with UFIDI. For her, participating in this American program is a unique opportunity. “It is an occasion for me to strengthen my leadership skills, of which I had already benefited partly in Nairobi, Kenya. My trip to the United States will allow me to build relationships in order to expand my international network. It will be an opportunity to discover new approaches to solve the challenges faced by the communities in my country, Burundi,” emphasized Ornella Munezero before taking off.
Remember that she was selected from thousands of young African candidates and will participate along with seven hundred young leaders in an intensive training in civic leadership, public management, or entrepreneurship at one of the partner universities in the United States. Over six weeks, she will participate in workshops, university courses, field visits, and meetings with American leaders from the public and private sectors. She hopes to return with concrete tools to amplify the impact of her projects in Burundi, particularly in youth empowerment and inclusive governance.
For six weeks, she will participate in workshops, university courses, field visits, and meetings with American leaders from the public and private sectors. She hopes to return with concrete tools to amplify the impact of her projects in Burundi, particularly in youth empowerment and inclusive governance. She expressed her deep gratitude to the government of Burundi, which allowed her, through the authorities of the University of Burundi, to participate in this prestigious program in the United States. She recalled that the U.S. government is committed to developing capacity-building governance relationships with Africa and that this opportunity should be for her a chance to play a key role in the governance of her organization UFIDI in order to set an example for other public and private institutions. At the end of the interview, Ornella said, “I want to learn how to build strong coalitions, mobilize resources and inspire a new generation of Burundian leaders.” As a reminder, the American program Mandela Washington Fellowship was launched in 2014 and has already trained more than 7,000 young Africans.
