Group Names Afanu Chairperson For Side Event At UN

Dr Omopeju Afanu has emerged as chairperson of the planning committee for DoTheDream Youth Development Initiative (DoTheDream YDI) high-level side event slated to hold at the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70).

DoTheDream YDI, founded by Adebusuyi Olutayo Olumadewa, a Nigerian, is a youth development organisation with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The group made this known in a statement, noting that the side event, titled, “Catalysing Energy Justice: Energising Communities Through Girls/Women and Sport,” will be hosted during CSW 70 in New York and is expected to elevate African-led perspectives on gender equality, energy access, and youth development within global policy and investment conversations.

According to the statement, the CSW70 engagement, positioned as a high-leverage platform for delivery, is designed to mobilise USD 20 million in catalytic capital to accelerate DoTheDream YDI’s Girls in Energy initiative, describing the initiative as an integrated ecosystem that equips girls and young women with the skills, leadership capacity, and market-facing opportunities required to participate meaningfully in Africa’s clean energy transition.

Speaking, founder of DoTheDream YDI, Olumadewa, described Afanu’s appointment as a critical milestone, noting the growing influence of civil society and diaspora-led organisations in global development, even as he noted that the initiative was about shifting the narrative from access alone to leadership and ownership.

“This funding is intended to unlock follow-on investment, strengthen implementation readiness, and convert policy alignment into tangible, community-level outcomes.

“Across the continent, millions of households and small businesses continue to operate without reliable electricity—constraining productivity, weakening service delivery, and slowing economic growth—with women and girls disproportionately bearing the burden. By restoring power reliability, communities can extend learning hours, keep clinics functional, enable digital connectivity, and expand women-led enterprise activity.

“DoTheDream YDI’s programme addresses this gap by linking education, innovation, and employment pathways to community-scale renewable energy deployment—ensuring that energy access translates directly into measurable development acceleration.

“A cornerstone of this approach is a 10MW solar mini-grid ambition, designed to expand access to clean, dependable power for households and small businesses, while creating green jobs for young people across installation, operations, maintenance, and local entrepreneurship. The catalytic funding will be deployed to de-risk early-stage delivery—supporting project preparation, community engagement, skills training, and implementation partnerships—so that mini-grids can scale faster and attract additional public and private co-financing. The initiative also integrates sport-for-development as a community mobilisation and leadership engine, widening participation, strengthening safeguarding and social inclusion, and accelerating girls’ and young women’s skills development and visibility within the energy transition.

“The CSW70 side event is expected to convene representatives from UN agencies, Permanent Missions, development organisations, private sector leaders, clean energy investors, civil society organisations, and sport-for-development and climate advocates.