Florence Kwizera

Sustainable Development Goals campaigner, Girl Guide spokesperson, advocate for body confidence

Florence Kwizera is a youth advocate with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), based in Bujumbura, Burundi. She speaks French, Swahili and English.

“I advocate for women’s rights and particularly increased awareness among women. People need to understand gender equality in the same way for us to begin to tackle it. The Girl Guide and Girl Scout Movement empowers and engages girls at an early age to grow up with the skills and beliefs to address inequality and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals”

Florence is a Girl Guide Leader from the Burundi Girl Guides Association and graduate from the National Institute of Public Health. She regularly campaigns for more visibility for women in decision-making roles and has worked with ADISCO in research into inclusion of women and young people in decision-making bodies.

She is a leader, spokesperson and panel moderator for youth and Guiding events throughout Burundi. Part of an innovation initiative with Care International Burundi, Florence inspires young people and in particular young women to break the gender stereotype. The project brings young women together as global citizens to work towards an effective solution to their community and country 's problems.

As a result of her involvement in this project, Florence co-founded Ba heza, which literally means to “live in a clean place”. Ba heza collects plastic bottles and transforms them into paving stones for use in the local community. The initiative has multiple benefits:

“We aim on the one hand to prevent the destruction of the soil and planet;  and on the other, to help young women who work as small traders to improve their working conditions and attract more customers.  It also creates job opportunities for street women and children, collecting plastic bottles, enabling them to become financially independent.”

During a six-month exchange in Tanzania, Florence developed the “BINTI JITHAMINI” campaign, working with girls and young women in the Dar es Salaam region to promote body confidence. She is a national facilitator for the WAGGGS Free Being Me Action on Body Confidence project, spreading awareness nationwide on positive body confidence amongst girls and young women.

Ask Florence about:

- Action on Sustainable Development Goal 5 – gender equality
- Supporting independent traders
- Breaking gender stereotypes in Burundi and across Africa
- Action on body confidence

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