Barbara Njovo

Barbara Njovo is an athlete leader from Special Olympics Zimbabwe. She is part of Africa’s Regional Athlete Leader Council and her goal is to encourage more female athletes to take more meaningful leadership roles, encouraging them to become leaders in sports, through coaching.

Barbara was selected by fellow athletes to be the Regional Health Liaison Officer and her role is to update the Regional Council on the challenges and successes Special Olympics Programs are having in the health sector, and the effectiveness of the health grants.

Barbara is also a short distance runner, and locally holds 8 gold medals. In 2019 she competed at the World Games in Abu Dhabi and won 2 medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

Barbara has a passion for athletics and volleyball and because of that she decided to use her sport experience to assist her former primary school on trainings. The students like and respect her, Njovo says that Athlete Leadership has taught her that she can make a change on anything she sets her mind to and that she feels driven and empowered because she knows now that self-advocacy works.

At the 2023 Global Athlete Leadership Congress in Berlin, she showcased her project on Menstrual Hygiene Management and was awarded the Biden Coin, by a Senior Protocol Office from United States of America.

In her recent role as a Health Messenger, she was invited to attend the World Health Summit in Berlin and she spoke on positive practices in health systems in Zimbabwe and expressed the importance of self-advocacy.