By Mohammed Taoheed
Nigerian born Jennifer Uchendu has been named on BBC’s “100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2023.”
Jennifer who is a London-based Nigerian is however surprisingly the only woman from Africa’s largest population who got enlisted for her work on environmental sustainability.
Jennifer as gathered by BlackBox Nigeria is the founder of Susty Vibes, a youth-led non-profit organization with a focus on climate change, energy and mental health.
According to BBC, “In a year where extreme heat, wildfires, floods and other natural disasters have been dominating headlines, the list also highlights women who have been working to help their communities tackle climate change and take action to adjust to its impacts.”
“The ambition of youth-led organisation SustyVibes, founded by her, is to make sustainability actionable, relatable and cool,” the BBC said about her.
The statement added that: “Uchendu’s recent work has focused on exploring the impacts of the climate crisis on the mental health of Africans, especially young people.
“In 2022, she set up The Eco-Anxiety Africa project (TEAP) to focus on validating and safeguarding climate emotions in Africans through research, advocacy and climate-aware psychotherapy.
“Her goal is to work with people and organisations interested in shifting mindsets and doing the hard and often uncomfortable work of learning about climate emotions.”
While expressing her excitement over the selection, Jennifer said in a post on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account that she is grateful to the BBC team for finding her worthy.
She stated that she’s “extremely humbled & grateful to be listed as one of the BBC 100 Women for 2023. I’m featured along side powerful women who I look up to.”
She further thanked those who have supported her and her team.
BlackBox Nigeria further learnt that the list consists of twenty eight climate change activists who were named ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28.
*How Were The Women Selected?*
A footnote on the report explained the BBC has a special team work to curate a shortlist based on names they gathered from research and those suggested by the BBC’s network of World Service Languages and Media Action teams.
Mostly, they picked candidates who had made headlines or influenced important stories over the past 12 months, as well as those who have inspiring stories to tell, or have achieved something significant or influenced their societies.
