As more than 100 women from around the world gather in Vietnam for the 73rd Miss World competition, Sierra Leone’s representative, Mariyam Lorba Konneh, enters the contest with a profile that appears closely aligned with what Miss World has long promoted: Beauty With a Purpose.
The competition is packed with accomplished women. India’s Nikita Porwal is an actor, playwright and model who has performed in more than 60 theatre productions and works with tribal communities. Indonesia’s Audrey Bianca Callista is a Political Science graduate, public speaker and environmental sustainability advocate. Zambia’s Dr Adah Mushibi is a medical doctor and Chinese interpreter, while Nigeria’s Soye Karibi-George is a communications professional, voice-over artist and model.
So describing any contestant as certain to win would be premature. But when Mariyam’s achievements are placed alongside those of some of the other confirmed representatives, there are at least five strong reasons Sierra Leone can reasonably consider her one of the contestants whose background fits the Miss World philosophy particularly well.
- Her Beauty With a Purpose story started long before Miss World
Perhaps Mariyam’s biggest strength is that her humanitarian work did not begin because she needed a project for an international pageant.
According to her profile, Mariyam traces her community service back to the age of 12, when she organised a school feeding activity on her birthday and shared food with classmates who could not afford lunch. That early experience later grew into menstrual-hygiene programmes, support for vulnerable children, youth mentoring and other community activities.
She has organised menstrual-hygiene school tours in communities where girls received education on menstrual health as well as sanitary pads. She has participated in feeding programmes that reached more than 200 vulnerable people and children, and a youth mentorship programme in Lumley brought together more than 300 young people to discuss leadership, personal development and opportunities.
That matters because Beauty With a Purpose is not simply a side activity at Miss World. The organisation describes it as a major part of the competition, requiring contestants to demonstrate community work and social impact.
Other contestants also bring impressive causes. India’s Nikita Porwal works with tribal communities in education, healthcare and sustainable livelihoods, while Indonesia’s Audrey Bianca Callista advocates for sustainability, equal access, community service and youth empowerment. Zambia’s Dr Adah Mushibi focuses on healthcare and people living with disabilities.
Mariyam’s advantage is therefore not that other delegates lack purpose. It is the range and length of her involvement. Her work cuts across menstrual health, education, youth development, feeding programmes, mental wellness and women’s empowerment.
She is bringing an existing record of service to Miss World rather than building a public-service identity only around the crown.
- She combines advocacy with practical economic empowerment
Many contestants are advocates. Mariyam has gone a step further by connecting advocacy with programmes intended to help women earn an income.
Through the Mariyam’s Ways Foundation Human Capital Development Programme, young women have taken part in business start-up training covering entrepreneurship, business planning, marketing, leadership and practical beauty-industry skills. Participants have also received equipment and certificates intended to help them begin their own businesses.
That gives her advocacy a practical economic dimension.
She is also an entrepreneur herself. Mariyam founded Mariyam’s Beauty Line and developed other ventures including All Your Phases and Mariyam’s Essentials, with the latter connected to feminine hygiene and her wider work on menstrual dignity.
This is an important point when she is compared with an exceptionally strong field.
Paraguay’s Ayelen Perez, for example, is a professional violinist with Paraguay’s National Orchestra of Popular Music, founder and director of her own music studio and a music educator. Zambia’s Dr Adah Mushibi brings the professional achievement of being a medical doctor, while India’s Nikita Porwal is a Creative Director, playwright, model and actor.
Mariyam’s own profile is different: she combines business ownership with programmes designed to transfer business skills to other young women.
That connection between personal achievement and creating opportunities for others could become one of her most compelling stories in Vietnam.
- She already knows how to communicate to a large audience
A Miss World winner does not only need a cause. She has to communicate that cause to people from different countries and backgrounds.
This is another area where Mariyam comes prepared.
She works as a television presenter with AYV Media Empire and has appeared on AYV’s MultiChoice DStv Channel 399. She also hosts Mariyam’s Ways, a platform where young people discuss their ambitions, experiences and challenges. Her media work has involved conversations around education, gender, health, personal development and community issues.
Miss World itself describes her as a television presenter, entrepreneur and Banking and Finance student, and says her advocacy focuses on menstrual health, girls’ education and youth empowerment.
This places her in interesting company.
Nigeria’s Soye Karibi-George is a communications professional and voice-over artist with a clear strength in storytelling and public communication. Indonesia’s Audrey Bianca Callista is a public speaker, content creator and strategist.
Mariyam, however, brings years of television presentation together with advocacy and pageantry. She is already accustomed to cameras, interviews and speaking publicly about social issues.
If the competition reaches the stage where contestants must clearly explain who they are, what they stand for and why their work matters, this experience could become a significant asset.
- She has one of the more diverse all-round profiles in the field
Some Miss World representatives arrive with exceptional achievements in a particular profession.
Zambia’s Dr Adah Mushibi is a medical doctor who volunteers at University Teaching Hospital and also works as a Chinese interpreter. South Africa’s Romanda Hombir is an audiologist. Paraguay’s Ayelen Perez is a professional violinist and music educator. India’s Nikita Porwal is an accomplished theatre performer, playwright, model and actor.
Mariyam’s strength is different.
She is a Banking and Finance student, television presenter, entrepreneur, humanitarian, youth advocate and experienced beauty queen. She also holds additional training in Computerised Accounting and Business and Accountancy.
Her work extends into menstrual health, youth mentorship, women’s economic empowerment, mental wellness, environmental awareness and media. She has participated in beach clean-ups and climate-related programmes and serves as a goodwill ambassador connected with a community wellbeing and surf-therapy mental wellness programme.
That range gives Mariyam several different ways to connect with the Miss World platform.
She can speak about business.
She can speak about young women.
She can speak about health and menstrual dignity.
She can speak about education.
She can speak about media.
And she can speak about community development from activities she has personally been involved in.
In a competition seeking a global ambassador rather than simply a model, such versatility can matter.
- She is not new to pageantry — she has been preparing for stages like this for years
Miss World is a huge jump for any contestant, but Mariyam is not entering an international pageant environment for the first time.
She won Miss Beacon during her school years in 2020 and later became AYV Miss University Sierra Leone 2022. She subsequently represented Sierra Leone at Miss University Africa before competing in Miss Sierra Leone 2025, where she finished as First Runner-Up.
That means Miss World is part of a progression rather than her first major exposure to pageantry.
Her selection as Sierra Leone’s 2026 representative was later officially confirmed by the Miss World Organisation.
She has therefore experienced winning, representing Sierra Leone internationally and competing in a national pageant before arriving in Vietnam.
When combined with her television background, this gives her experience in some of the areas that can place heavy pressure on contestants: public presentation, interviews, stage confidence, representing a country and communicating under attention.
A very strong field — but a serious Sierra Leonean contender
It would be inaccurate to suggest that Mariyam faces an easy road.
Miss World 2026 includes women with remarkable credentials. India’s Nikita Porwal combines arts and humanitarian service. Indonesia’s Audrey Bianca Callista combines international-relations education with sustainability advocacy. Zambia is represented by a medical doctor. Nigeria has a communications professional and advocate. South Africa has an audiologist, while Paraguay’s representative is a professional musician and educator.
That comparison actually makes Mariyam’s case more interesting.
She may not be the only entrepreneur, advocate, media professional or humanitarian in the competition. Her distinction is that she combines nearly all of those elements in one profile.
At 22, her story already includes education, television, entrepreneurship, humanitarian service, youth mentorship, menstrual-health advocacy, women’s economic empowerment, environmental action and previous national and international pageant experience.
And perhaps most importantly, much of that work existed before Miss World came calling.
The Miss World Organisation says Mariyam’s advocacy centres on menstrual health, girls’ education and youth empowerment. Miss World also describes Beauty With a Purpose as a central part of its philosophy and competition.
On those grounds, Sierra Leone has reason to believe it has sent more than a beauty queen to Vietnam.
It has sent a young woman whose personal journey already reflects several of the qualities Miss World says it wants its contestants to represent.
Whether that results in Sierra Leone’s first Miss World crown will ultimately be decided through the competition.
What is unique about Mariyam Konneh’s Beauty with a Purpose platform?
She creates Safe Spaces for both Girls and boys!
Mariyam is multifaceted and well-rounded in diverse fields, involved in several great projects, and she is a global ambassador who embodies leadership, confidence, intelligence, and a beauty with a purpose.
SPECIFICALLY, Mariyam’s work primarily focuses on efforts to create SAFE SPACES for both girls and boys, helping them and their communities access support for menstrual hygiene, mental health, education, skills development and business start- ups.
Mariyam Konneh launched the Mariyam’s Ways Foundation, which focuses on health, education and development, and has since helped raise funds in support of initiatives to improve health care, education, and the environment.
The Mariyam’s Ways Foundation has launched the “Her Way Forward” programme, a women’s empowerment and rehabilitation initiative to help vulnerable women rebuild their lives through practical skills, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and sustainable livelihoods. The programme provides a second chance and a supportive pathway for women to move forward without being defined by their past including drug addiction, sexual exploitation and marginalisation.
Mariyam Konneh has been an influential figure in engaging and empowering young people and communities Through her healthy BODY, healthy MIND and healthy COMMUNITY initiatives. She has been recognised as among the 50 Most Influential Sierra Leonean women.
Through the Mariyam’s Ways Company, Mariyam Konneh pledged to invest in one million women and young people in business startups to create jobs and improve living standards.
Mariyam Konneh has championed human capital development, skills training, access to quality education both in her country Sierra Leone and across the world.
Mariyam has established the Mariyam’s Ways Human Capital Development programme that offers girls , women and young people and from underprivileged backgrounds access to skills, education and support they need to thrive. And she has funded Mariyam’s Ways Foundation scholarships in Sierra Leone.
Mariyam has also used her influence and her media platform to talk about issues of gender and inequalities, which are two major root causes of poverty.
Mariyam understands the challenges facing the world, as people living in poverty often struggle to access clean water, safe sanitation systems, food, education, electricity, internet, employment opportunities, and so much more. Hence Mariyam and her various organisations are boldly working to create a more equal and just world.
But based on the records currently available, Mariyam Lorba Konneh has a credible case to be considered among the strongest all-round candidates for Miss World 2026 — and one of Sierra Leone’s most promising representatives on the global pageant stage.
