Youth Leader Mobilizes 3,500 to Fight Plastic in West Africa

When Jesus Aka saw the findings from his 2022 marine pollution research in Côte d'Ivoire, he couldn't look away. The lagoons and oceans of his country had become plastic dumping grounds, threatening fish, public health, and the families who depended on coastal waters for survival.

But the data itself wasn't what shocked him most. "What struck me most was the gap between awareness and action," Jesus explains. People knew about the problem, yet young people rarely stepped up to solve it.

That realization sparked a decision that would change thousands of lives. Jesus founded NGO BLUE in 2022 to turn environmental awareness into real action, starting with the people who would inherit the problem: young Africans.

Today, more than 1,200 volunteers work with NGO BLUE across Côte d'Ivoire. The organization has reached 24,000 children in 10 cities through its Blue School Initiative, partnering with UNICEF to make environmental education interactive and fun.

In 2023, NGO BLUE organized something the country had never seen: a human chain of over 1,000 young people standing against plastic pollution. "It became a powerful symbol of youth mobilization," Jesus says. The event inspired a wave of youth-led environmental initiatives across the nation.

The movement didn't stop at awareness campaigns. Jesus and his team have collected tons of plastic waste through community cleanups and helped shape national policy. Their recommendations now appear in Côte d'Ivoire's climate commitments, including plans to reduce carbon emissions from lagoon transport.

Jesus earned the 3rd National Excellence Award for Best Young Citizen in 2024 for his work. But the recognition he seems proudest of is watching the movement spread beyond borders.

The Ripple Effect

NGO BLUE's Regional Youth Forum on Blue Economy now brings together young leaders from over 15 West and Central African countries. The 2026 forum awarded $1,000 grants to three youth projects in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria to launch their own environmental solutions.

The organization has trained over 700 young environmental leaders and reached 25,000 people through awareness campaigns. These aren't just numbers on a report. They're fishing communities learning to protect their waters, kids teaching their families to reduce plastic, and young people discovering they have the power to shape policy.

Jesus acknowledges the challenges. Changing deep habits takes time, and finding sustained funding is an ongoing struggle. "These challenges have not discouraged us; instead, they have strengthened our determination to keep pushing forward," he says.

From Côte d'Ivoire to Liberia and beyond, a generation of African youth is learning that individual commitment can become collective transformation.