• BoysLivesMatter is ultimately about changing what happens to boys before they become men.

• According to Kobby Kyei, boys should not have to suffer quietly simply because society expects them to be strong.

• Kobby Kyei is a Ghanaian blogger and humanitarian.

In 2025, Ghanaian blogger and humanitarian Augustus Koranteng Kyei also know as Kobby Kyei began pushing a conversation he felt was missing from the country’s child advocacy space: the struggles of boys and the need to protect their emotional, psychological and social wellbeing.

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He then launched the BoysLivesMatter advocacy from years of encountering boys across different Ghanaian communities who were dealing with poverty, abuse, school dropout, child labour, streetism, family difficulties and a lack of mentorship and emotional support.

The campaign was publicly taking shape by April and May 2025, when Kyei was speaking about the need for society to pay greater attention to boys and challenge the idea that boys should simply endure their problems without talking about them. 

By October 2025, he was openly discussing the motivation behind the initiative, saying that society often focuses heavily on empowering girls while overlooking the emotional and social needs of boys. 

He said he met boys carrying responsibilities beyond their age, children working on the streets, struggling with poverty, experiencing abuse or living without anyone asking how they were doing.

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That, for him, exposed a gap in the way society talks about boys.

Kyei began asking a series of questions that eventually became the foundation of BoysLivesMatter: Who is listening to the boy? Who is protecting him? Who is mentoring him? Who is helping him when he is struggling?

So far, the idea has since grown beyond a social-media message. Kobby Kyei has taken the campaign into schools and communities, using conversations, storytelling, mentorship and direct humanitarian interventions to draw attention to the challenges boys face. 

Kobby Kyei also held the Shine Summit – Boys’ Lives Matter edition at Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon, where students and advocates discussed the emotional, psychological and social pressures affecting boys.

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For Kobby Kyei, these interventions are important because the campaign was never intended to stop at awareness.

Not as someone who can solve every problem facing boys in Ghana, but as someone who can find the stories, amplify them, connect vulnerable children to help and encourage others to get involved, that is the role Kyei now sees himself playing.

According to the humanitarian, boys should not have to suffer quietly simply because society expects them to be strong.

Kyei admits the work comes with its own difficulties. He describes it as emotionally, physically and financially demanding. Travelling to communities, meeting difficult cases and receiving calls from people looking for assistance can create pressure, particularly when he does not have the resources to meet every need.

But according to him, the impact of individual interventions keeps him going. He remembers children who gained educational opportunities, boys who were finally heard and young people whose lives changed because someone took notice of their situation.

Also, the campaign, he does not see as something he must carry alone.

BoysLivesMatter is ultimately about changing what happens to boys before they become men and ensuring that the next generation grows up knowing that strength can also mean speaking up, seeking help and being heard.