The founder of Children’s Smile and the Youth Institute for Peace and Local Governance is taking his mission from Bobo-Dioulasso to the world stage. Some people wait for the future. Emmanuel Soro is building it.
In 2020, he founded Children’s Smile to help children caught in Burkina Faso’s insecurity. It has put school kits in the hands of displaced children, funded education for girls at risk of forced marriage, and delivered warm clothing to children living on the streets.
Then he asked a bigger question: what if young people did not just survive conflict, but prevented it? In 2023, he founded the Youth Institute for Peace and Local Governance and began training young people to become peace ambassadors. His “Forgotten Conflicts” campaign pushed the world to look at crises it prefers to ignore.
His voice now carries beyond home. He has worked in Nairobi and London, contributed to policy talks at the African Union and TICAD 9, and spoken at the One Young World Summit.
Next, he heads to France for a master’s in security and defence on an Erasmus Mundus scholarship. He is not leaving his mission. He is sharpening it.
The Sahel needs leaders who understand both the village and the policy table. Emmanuel Soro is becoming one of them, and his best work is still ahead.
Muhammad Kukuri is a writer from Yobe State, with keen interest in Nigerian politics and journalism. He can be reached at 07062733187
