By Marissa Foster
AT just the age of 22, Kobe Smith is a human rights defender and has managed to achieve a whole lot for not only himself, but also for those whom he advocates on behalf of. He has also obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Guyana. This is the first step in fulfilling his dreams of becoming an Attorney-at-Law. “My mother, Tracey Haywood, who died in 2016 after losing her battle to cancer, is my biggest inspiration. She is the heart of my heart and the wind beneath my wings. Growing up, she always told me, ‘Kobe, is not where you came from, is where you end up.’ I wish she were alive today to see her son make his way in the world. She was not rich,” said, Kobe. He explained that his mother died in part because she did not have the financial resources to afford quality healthcare. As such, he makes it his duty to always think of his mother in a boardroom whenever the discussion of funding to support women, whose lives depend on health services. Today, he stands on the shoulders of his aunt, Joylyn. She has been his anchor and his main source of strength.
Throughout the years, Kobe has dedicated his time and energy towards making Guyana a better place for all. For his dedication in volunteering by providing and promoting health education for adolescents in Guyana, he was awarded the National Youth Award in 2017. He was also awarded by the Heart to Art Foundation, as 2018 Youth Advocate of the Year. “I have always had people challenge and question my work as a young man involved in human rights and gender equality. I have heard people say that I take up spaces meant for women,” said Kobe. “It is as if young men like me are not supposed to be allies in the struggle to end violence against women and so many other injustices, and ensure they have access to sexual and reproductive health services to lead promising lives.”

Nonetheless, this has not deterred Kobe from his advocacy or humanitarian efforts as he was selected in 2017 as a Women Deliver Young Leader, out of a pool of 3,000 applicants from across the world. The award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Programme connects passionate young advocates around the world.
In 2019, he was invited to speak at the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, Canada, where 8,000 participants gathered with more than 200,000 others joining remotely. World leaders, like Justin Trudeau, youth leaders, frontline change-makers and social entrepreneurs, activists, advocates, and academics came together to drive progress on gender equality through the lens of power. Kobe was also invited to speak at the Fifth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2018. It was co-hosted by the Gates Institute and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Rwanda. More than 4,000 people from 119 countries attended. He also holds the title of being President of Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM) of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA). Before this role, he served as a youth representative and trustee on the GRPA’s board of directors. Since 2013, Kobe has been integrally involved in outreach activities, advocacy campaigns and numerous sessions on Comprehensive Sexuality Education, which targeted more than 7,000 young persons across Guyana.

Additionally, this young advocate is also the Director at the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) based in New York. Globally, he serves as a member of the London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Board of Trustees, which provides sexual and reproductive health services to 200 million people yearly in 164 countries. He was appointed by the IPPF Director-General as a Commissioner on the Independent Resource Allocation Commission, to review and offer recommendations to improve IPPF’s funding allocation system. On the level of local advocacy, in March 2017, he participated in a Hearing of the 161st Ordinary Period of Sessions at the Organisation of American States – IACHR, in Washington D.C. and called for the implementation of the National Policy for the Reintegration of Adolescent Mothers into the Formal School System. Kobe is also a member of the UNFPA – Youth Advisory Group. He is the Human Rights Coordinator at SASOD Guyana, where he leads advocacy, documents human rights violations, and provides access to paralegal and legal services for LGBTQ persons, vulnerable women and girls, marginalised youth, sex workers, persons living with HIV, and others.
When he was asked about one of life’s biggest challenges that he has encountered, Kobe responded by saying, “As a male, you are not expected to hurt or cry. But sometimes I have low moments when I cry for my mother. I am grateful for the small group of people who lift me up daily. Anyone who is dealing with grief or declining mental health needs the support of friends and family. It is a battle not won alone.”

Kobe stressed that there are people who questioned his sexuality because of his advocacy. “I speak differently. I talk passionately about a lot of issues like family planning; the use of contraceptives; the right of women to access safe abortions; and LGBTQ+rights,” said this young advocate. In Guyana, if you are a male and you support and defend the rights of vulnerable groups, including women, girls, and the LGBTQ+community, you are automatically assumed to be gay.” Nonetheless, he does not allow the things people say to affect his work, the scope of his ambition, nor his outlook on life. Hillary Clinton said, “Never stop believing that fighting for what is right is worth.” These are words Kobe lives by.