Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
What do youth, climate change and a global agenda for sustainability have in common? That’s exactly what we went to find out about at the 9th UNESCO Youth Forum, which took place in Paris late last October. By ‘we’, I mean 500 active youth from across the globe, each with a wealth of experience, passion, and, most importantly, a keenness to talk about the future.
If you were surprised to hear that 500 youth were brought together in one place, then you can imagine my reaction when I found out that I was supposed to give a speech to them. Five hundred young individuals, each with a remarkable story of their own, would be listening to me for inspiration. Yeah, I was definitely sweating a little on that stage.
But looking out at the sea of attentive faces, I realized that I wasn’t giving a formal speech to a passive audience. I was continuing a conversation that started at the booths of the Forum’s marketplace and continued in the rooms and hallways of the UNESCO building throughout the Forum’s three-day duration. So I picked up the thread of those conversations and spoke in detail about the work I was doing in Libya to promote and advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals among my fellow peers. I spoke about the challenges and obstacles we faced in Libya, about how these goals would strengthen our work, and how we are determined to continue being part of the global youth conversation.
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Source & Copyright: UN Youth Flash Newsletter