Tobago’s teenage archery champion focuses on sustainability goals
She is seventeen years old and coaches archers three times her age on her Caribbean home island of Tobago. Ms. Lewis brings the confidence and skills she gained from sports to advocacy and diplomacy, spaces where young people, especially girls, often have to fight to have their voices heard.
“The biggest challenge has to be my age,” she said, highlighting a cultural norm passed on to many young Caribbeans to “speak only when spoken to” and to “let the older heads do the big discussions.”
Sports have helped her overcome these barriers: “Archery gives you the discipline to keep moving forward,” she said.
Anthurium Lewis receives top prize at an archery competition.
Now, Ms. Lewis wants to use her platform as a Young Leader for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the internationally agreed goals aimed at promoting peace and prosperity for people and the planet – to show that young people can lead change when the world makes room for their voices and equips them with the right skills.
She believes that sport is one of the most powerful ways to develop these skills.
‘Children can do it’
We have something to say. We have the intellect. We also have the passion behind it. You don’t have to wait until you’re 25 to want to fight for a cause… We can start now.
The most profound transformation that sport brings is quieter than a trophy or a title; it starts in the mind.
She believes archery is 80 percent a test mentality with the self-esteem and discipline it builds in a young person transitioning into all parts of their life.
However, Ms Lewis recognizes the challenges faced by other young people with powerful ideas but nowhere to turn, and encourages her peers to have confidence in their voices.
“Kids can do it. We have a say. We have the intellect. We also have the passion behind it. You don’t have to wait until you’re 25 to want to fight for a cause… We can start now.”
Sustainability mission
Through her foundation, Lewis is on a mission to plant native fruit trees throughout Tobago to make the island more sustainable and increase food security.
She also visits schools, communities and religious organizations, where she works to empower young people to plant fruit trees such as sapodilla, soursop, custard apple, breadfruit and starfruit.
From fruit trees to food security: Anthurium Lewis | United Nations
“You won’t find me alone planting,” she said. “You’ll also find other young people, including very young children, going out and planting their own fruit trees that they will look after.”
Efforts pay off
On her first visit to a rural primary school in Tobago, Lewis found the school’s garden overgrown and deserted, but two months later she returned to find it had changed: it was bright and full of children diligently tending their plants during the school day.
“I was very happy with that change,” she said, emphasizing that the work also gives children the opportunity to step outside the noise of the classroom, connect with their peers and build something together with their own hands.
For Ms. Lewis, that sense of ownership, which promotes discipline and self-confidence, is the whole point.
Anthurium Lewis spoke to UN News prior to the annual review ECOSOC Youth Forum (April 14-16, 2026), which brings together young leaders with policymakers to focus on advancing the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.
