Draft:Cynthia Chigwenya

Cynthia Chigwenya is a Zimbabwean political researcher and pracademic. She is the immediate past African Youth Ambassador for Peace (AYAP) for Southern Africa at African Union Commission (AU).

Background and education
Cynthia Chigwenya was born in 1996 in Kadoma, Zimbabwe where she grew up. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.Soc.Sci) in Criminology and International Studies from Monash University which she attained between 2015 and 2018. This was followed by a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) Honors in Development Studies, summa cum laude, from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa which she completed in 2019. She then pursued a Master of Arts (M.A) in Development Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, graduating between 2020 and 2021. Additionally, she holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Social Policy and Development, with distinction, from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa which she earned between 2020 and 2022. In 2020 she became a Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Scholar with the Witwatersrand University.

Career
Cynthia Chigwenya began her career in 2018 as a Graduate Researcher for the National Commission For The Fight Against Genocide in Kigali, Rwanda. She was also a contributor to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention of Genocides report. She then became a Research Scholar for the South African Institute of International Affairs in 2020 to 2021.

In 2019 Cynthia became a TEDx Speaker with TED Lyttleton Women in South Africa where she gave her debut TEDx presentation. In 2022 she was appointed African Union’s Youth Ambassador for Southern Africa and her term ended in April 2024 then in 2023, she briefed the 9315th meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on future-proofing trust for peacebuilding.

Cynthia was appointed programme coordinator at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung through which she collaborated with several organisations promoting SDGs and the Agenda 2063 in Africa. She previously held research positions in the South African Parliament and at the National Genocide Commission in Rwanda.

Recognition

 * Global Excellence and Stature (GES) Award Recipient, 2019
 * Dean’s List and Top Achievers Award Recipient, University of Johannesburg 2020
 * Common Purpose Global Citizenship Fellow, University of Birmingham 2021
 * Young Achiever of Year Award Nominee, Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) 2022
 * Most Influential Persons of African Descent (MIPAD) Global 100 under 40 Honoree, United Nations-affiliated 2022
 * 30 Inspirational African Youth Leaders 2023