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Written by Elizabeta Petrova
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Monday, 20 October 2008 16:16 |
… And so I am flying back to Sofia. I am looking at the amazing view outside the window and I am thinking ‘what a week’!!! So intensive and so exciting, lol.. So many impressions and new faces that I am sure will meet again. Тhe youth delegates were so motivated and urgent to change the world that one cannot help it but get infected with their energy and enthusiasm. I should say good bye to New York and keep the energy so it could reach more young people back home.
What I have in my pocket is an old essay. I guess this essay brought me here. I wrote it three years ago while I still was in high school. I didn`t know much about UN and had never heard about the YD program. Then on the radio they announced an essay competition on the topic ”Youth takes the stage”. And I started writing because I felt passion to participate more actively but didn`t know how, I felt myself excluded from all the youth issues that affected me and even thought that it is too late to get involved. I never sent my essay as I didn`t hear the address. But I kept it and this little thing somehow made me walk my way.
On my first encounter with young activists and volunteers, their true commitment to a cause and their high motivation to contribute they set an example for me how young people could be so passionate about issues that are not connected to their everyday well-being. The spark they lit in me that day made me be a better person.
Well, after several years of youth activism I was selected for Bulgarian Youth delegate to the UN and thus had the chance to be part of “Youth takes the stage” just like the topic of my old essay.. This proved to me that with the pure passion and motivation of youth there are no barriers in front of you and it would never be too late to find a way to give your contribution. Being a youth delegate will not be an easy task, because I should set an example among my young fellows and encourage them to get involved and be active, as the potential of youth should not be excluded but further developed. |
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Switzerland: No more "model UN" |
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Written by Jonas Rey
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008 16:56 |
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So here we are 1 week before I flight to New-York. I really don’t know what I should expect from this. Until now, it only has been sending a lot of emails, calling a lot of people, meeting a lot of people and hard working. The problem with that, is that I don’t have a lot of positive results from now. I’m still without my final statement, I still don’t have an answer from my guest speakers for the Swiss Working Breakfast and I don’t know how I will get my accreditation. Well, I guess it’s almost like this for every Youth Delegates, and I am sure all will be cleared this week. The challenge offered by this work is a huge one. Represents the Swiss Youth to the United Nations, even if it is for 1 week, it’s going to be really amazing. Based on the Foreign Ministry explanation, I will have some right to negotiate and to represent the Swiss opinions during some informal meeting too. This is exactly what I had expected. An active position, not a passive one. Because if I registered for the Youth-Delegates project, it was exactly for something like this: having to possibility to make a useful contribution, unlike in Model United Nations, where it’s only a “model”. Here and now, I’m going to make it to the real UN and not only being a spectator, I am going to be an actor. |
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Youth Delegates’ life in Germany: a message from Nico and Astrid |
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Written by Astrid
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Sunday, 28 September 2008 22:46 |
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“dummdummdumm” The MSN-ring tone wakes me up in the morning. I guess it’s Nico. Together Nico and I are the Youth Delegates for Germany, and today was supposed to be our self-set deadline for our speech in front of the 3rd Committee on social, humanitarian and cultural affairs. I am turning around in my bed: why do volunteers have to work on Sundays? Maybe we should include a paragraph on “unionisation of volunteers” somewhere in the speech … “a voice for the voiceless”. Might be a funny - however admittedly useless - idea [NB: Brazil and Japan sponsor a resolution on volunteering this year]. |
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Interview with Elizabeth Shaw |
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Written by Webmaster
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Monday, 15 September 2008 19:41 |
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 Hey Elizabeth, tell us about yourself.
My name is Elizabeth Shaw and a 24 year old Australian Youth Delegate for 2008. I have recently finished degrees in Law and Arts, and have been working as a legal assistant to the State Solicitor for Western Australia. I have had a lot of experience in youth advocacy and representation, having served as the Chair of the City of Perth Youth Advisory Council, the President of the UWA Law Students’ Society, the Editor of the UWA Student Newspaper Pelican, and as an Editor of the UWA Law Review. I am particularly passionate about youth participation, social inclusion, the advancement of women, the role of the media and closing the gap in indigenous health and education. How were you selected as a youth delegate for your country? |
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Blogs: The YD Experience
