Some of these include the leaders of Jamaica, Croatia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Liberia, South Sudan, Malta, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana, Sierra Leone and Namibia.
In March 2013, Oduwole formally started a project called "Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up", a campaign which was first launched at the Lagos Business School's Pan-Atlantic University, for the advocacy and promotion of girl-child education in Africa.
[14] In February 2015, Elle Magazine listed her in their annual feature of "33 Women Who Changed The World", alongside Fed Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and President of General Motors, Mary Barra.
[16] In April 2015, the Ivy League's Columbia University in New York, U.S invited her as a featured speaker at their African Economic Forum conference, as well as a segment panelist, to speak about the potentials of the new Africa.
[22] In December 2015, she formally launched her DUSUSU Foundation aimed at building partnerships with corporation and individuals, to develop the education capabilities of children, but especially the girl child, across the globe.
[31][32] At the 71st United Nations [UN] General Assembly events in New York in September 2016, Zuriel was invited to speak on how the effects of climate change is significantly affecting the education of children in the Pacific Island region.
[38][39] As part of activities to commemorate their 11th annual Kreole festival from 22 to 25 November, the government of Mauritius invited Zuriel Oduwole to be the special guest for the years events.
Esther Lungu[40][41][42] On 6 January 2017, the US Secretary of State - Rt Hon John Kerry met Zuriel in Washington DC [43][44] to commend her for what he called her 'clarity of purpose' in recognizing a major global developmental issue - Girls Education, and taking on the challenge head on.
Because the UN did not set an age limit or overall criteria on partnerships aimed at accomplishing these goals, Zuriel saw an opportunity to participate in processes that moved the gender equality needle forward, especially on the African continent where she saw huge challenges.
So far, the first ladies of Tanzania in 2014, Kenya[54] in 2015, Namibia in 2016 [55] Senegal in 2017,[56] Mozambique [57][58] in 2018, Cape Verde[59] in 2019 and Sierra Leone[60] in 2020 have received the award between 2014 and 2020, as well as gender ministers from Ghana,[61][62][63][64] Rwanda,[65] Jamaica [66][67][68] and Mauritius.
[72][8] A UNICEF report identified Mozambique as having one of the highest rates of girl marriage in the world, with 48% of the country's women married before the age of 18 [73][74][75] and the consequences are very damaging to the nations human capital development.
[90][91] It was another way of effectively reducing the growing number of out of school children, including vulnerable teenage girls, by teaching them non-traditional education skills such as film editing and creative programs.
Creating a partnership with a femcare manufacturer from South Africa, she delivered products to dozens of girls across the Gauteng province, to ensure that female students really do stay, in school.
[94][95] She shared her insights and offered solutions to the many cultural, economic and social factors that denies girls the same formal education opportunities as boys, refencing challenges pointed out by the Brookings Institution and her own study of adolescents girls, across Africa and Asia, including Cambodia, South Africa, Ghana, Nepal and India [96][97][98] Youth Voice & The State of California - World's 6th Largest Economy Zuriel has always seen a close connection between the power of youth, global affairs, leadership, and the ability to address some of the worlds pressing social and development problems, as she herself has met personally with 31 world leaders [99][100] since the age of 10, to create and find solutions to some of these problems.
On July 1, 2021, the worlds 6th largest economy - The State of California, where Zuriel was born and raised, announced a special election to either keep its current leader [Governor Gavin Newsome], or replace him.
First, she was a full time University student, and second, she would need to raise a lot of money by appealing to people and soliciting donations, just to tell or show what she was capable of or what she is able to do, when she had been doing the same things quietly, globally and successfully without spending a penny, for the last 8 years.
She didn't understand that logic behind such political accoutrements of spending and profligacy, when people were hungry, homeless and in need of immediate medical attention statewide and across the United States.
[119][120][121] Sharing her insights at the 2022 Global Citizens Festival in New York central park, she also sees the power of an educated girl and the voice of youth as a necessary partner in the rapid transformation of many inequalities.
[14] In February 2015, Elle Magazine listed her in their annual feature of "33 Women Who Changed The World", alongside Fed Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and President of General Motors, Mary Barra.
[126] Following the release of her short documentary film in February 2019 on the centenary life of Madiba, she was honored for her humanitarian work by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in March 2019 in Johannesburg.