The 30 exceptional young leaders who will take to the stage as Delegate Speakers in the five plenary sessions at One Young World’s 2019 Summit have now been chosen.
This year, One Young World returns ‘home’ to London for the 10th Annual Summit - set to be the biggest since the movement began in 2010. The specially selected Delegate Speakers will address an audience of over 2,000 people, on the subjects of Poverty Alleviation, Education, Peaceful Futures, Planetary Health and Media Freedom.
In accordance with One Young World tradition, each one of the Delegate Speakers will be matched with a One Young World Counsellor, a global expert and leader who will provide them with mentorship and support.
Discover the 2019 Delegate Speakers:
More journalists are being killed, with 94 media workers dying in targeted killings, bomb attacks and crossfire during 2018, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
One Young World Ambassador projects are fighting back for freedom of speech. Noorjahan Akbar’s Free Women Writers scheme in Afghanistan provides a platform for 130 contributors and over 100,000 monthly readers. Saeed Atcha’s Xplode magazine project has given media skills to 2,500 schoolchildren aged 10-11 and supported 90 children in creating their own magazines. Nyus Alfred created the Sporte Avis platform for young sports journalists in the Eastern Caribbean.
How can young leaders create new models for online news that we can trust?
Meet the 2019 Media Freedom Plenary Delegate Speakers:
GeumHyok Kim, North Korea
GeumHyok, an advocate for freedom of speech, defected from North Korea when he was a university student. He has since worked with the US government and shed a light on the reality of life in North Korea.
Dalia Yousif, Sudan
Founder of Ask Me
Dalia is the Founder of Ask Me, an e-learning platform that links the user with professional mentors from the whole world, to provide them with a high-quality education. In the wake of the Al Bashir protests the platform offered 24/7 online legal consultation, with a focus on the rights of the free press and individuals free speech.
Solomon Elliott, United Kingdom
Founder of The Student View
Solomon Elliott is the founder of The Student View which trains teenagers from underserved communities as local news reporters. The Student View has launched 87 pop-up newsrooms in schools across the UK since September 2016.
Isra Chaker, USA
Civil Rights Activist
Isra led the design and implementation of a strategic campaign that centred on amplifying the voices of those directly impacted by the discriminatory policies of the US government.
Waad Al Kateab, Syria
Award Winning Documentary filmmaker
Waad Al-Kateab became a citizen journalist in 2011, after protests broke out across Syria against the Assad regime. In January 2016 she began documenting the horrors of Aleppo for Channel 4 News in a series of films titled “Inside Aleppo”.
Climate change is destabilising communities, fuelling poverty and conflict. The rise of social media has seen a surge in hate speech and intolerance. The FBI reported a 17% rise in hate crimes in the United States in 2017, the third consecutive year of increase.
One Young World Ambassador projects have educated and engaged 207,774 people in peacebuilding projects. Almost two-thirds of Ambassadors actively lead change in their communities to bring about lasting peace and justice. One Young World co-founded Extremely Together, a unique initiative in which young leaders enable their peers to tackle extremism of all kinds.
Meet the 2019 Peaceful Future Plenary Delegate Speakers:
Ronelle King, Barbados
Director of #LifeinLeggings
Ronelle is the Founder of #LifeinLeggings, a social media campaign created as a safe space for women who had experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Breshna Musazai, Afghanistan
Women and Peace Activist
Breshna is an advocate against radicalisation. Through her campaign work, she emphasises the importance of education especially in areas susceptible to violent extremism.
Seán Binder, Germany
Human Rights Advocate
Seán coordinated offshore and coastal civilian search and rescue efforts in Europe’s primary asylum hotspot, the North Aegean, assisting asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution.
Nelson Olanipekun, Nigeria
Founder of Gavel
Nelson is the Founder of user-friendly platform, Gavel which gives access to the justice system to young people in Nigeria.
Cameron Kasky, USA
Co-Founder of March For Our Lives
Cameron is an American activist and advocate against gun violence, who co-founded the student-led gun violence prevention advocacy group March For Our Lives.
Nadav Weiman, Israel
Deputy Director of Breaking The Silence
After serving in the Israeli military, Nadav became the Deputy Director of Breaking the Silence, an organisation of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada. Their goal is to end the Israeli military occupation over the Palestinian territories.
By 2030 the richest 1% of the world’s population will control almost two-thirds (64%) of global wealth, according to research conducted by the British House of Commons released last year. Their combined assets are set to rise from $140 trillion in 2018 to $305 trillion 12 years later.
One Young World Ambassador initiatives have given employability and entrepreneurial skills training to 652,500 students. Our projects have helped 202,970 people to overcome poverty and giving access to affordable energy, clean water and sanitation.
Meet the 2019 Poverty Alleviation Plenary Delegate Speakers:
Dickel Dia, Mauritania
Founder of AFPHY
AFPHY an organisation that stands against gender-based discrimination and violence by promoting equal rights and generating jobs for women and girls across rural areas in Mauritania.
Monica Boța Moisin, Sweden
Lawyer and Founder of the Cultural IP Rights Initiative
A lawyer by profession, Monica decided to launch the Cultural IP Initiative which aims to achieve cultural IP rights for indigenous communities whose craftwork is often appropriated without recognition or compensation.
Melusi Simelane, eSwatini
Founder and Executive Director of Eswatini Sexual & Gender Minorities
Melusi’s organisation empowers, supports and advocates on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community in Eswatini.
Mete Coban, United Kingdom
Councillor for Stoke Newington, UK, and the Chief Executive for My Life My Say
My Life My Say is a youth-led non-partisan charity on a mission to empower young people to participate in democracy by creating spaces for dialogue across communities and generations.
Selin Benjamin Bocio Richardson, Dominican Republic
Co-Founder of FUMEBO
Selin Benjamin co-founded FUMEBO with his father, a non-profit medical organization dedicated to providing health resources to the underprivileged, rural communities in the Dominican Republic.
Wubetu Shimelash, Ethiopia
Co-Founder & CEO of Simien Eco Trek
In 2017 Wubetu co-founded Simien Eco Trek, a company that provides convenient, efficient and unique tour services in Ethiopia for tourists around the world while empowering local communities.
From direct effects caused by floods, droughts, and heatwaves through to indirect effects such as bad harvests and poor water quality, climate change is a major contributor to heart and lung disease, malnutrition and mental illness.
Among the One Young World community, 76% believe this generation will leave the planet in a better state than it is currently. Our Ambassador projects tackle air pollution in Africa, through the use of smokeless briquettes for cooking, to maintaining clean and sustainable water supplies in rural Peru. Schemes have educated 1,674,953,868 on environmental sustainability and impacted 1,342,595 people in getting access to physical and mental health services.
Meet the 2019 Planetary Health Plenary Delegate Speakers:
Mark Sultan Gersava, Philippines
Founder of Bambuhay
Mark is the founder of Bambuhay, a social enterprise addressing deforestation, plastic pollution and the effects of climate change and poverty.
Oluwafolajimi Adesanya, Nigeria
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Clean City Initiative
Clean City Initiative a youth-led environmental protection movement and cleanup initiative on a mission to eliminate the menace of plastic, solid waste pollution and flooding in Nigeria through the power of recycling.
Manoly Sisavanh, Laos
Deputy Country Director of Wildlife Conservation Society Laos
Manoly has a background in natural resource management from Cornell University and has been integrating the “One Health” approach in conservation and wildlife health surveillance work which has demonstrated clear relationship between animal hosted viruses, climate change and its eventual impacts on human health.
Eze Victor Obinna, Nigeria
Founder of 360-degree HEALTH network
360-degree HEALTH network partners with civil society groups and the government to set favourable health and environmental policies, with a focus on creating environmental friendliness programs in the impoverished slums of the Niger Delta.
Lalit Gautam, India
CEO of Sensegrasse
As the CEO of Sensegrasse, Lalit’s work produces smart farming solutions to create more sustainable and environmentally friendly food production.
Unelker Maoga, Kenya
Founder of Konservation
In 2017 Unelker founded Konservation; a community-based organization in western Kenya, enhancing environmental stewardship, empowering women and inspiring young people to be involved in Sustainable Development.
Instead of learning about environmental sustainability, changing demographics, and the potential of artificial intelligence, children around the world learn from textbooks that would have been familiar to their parents and grandparents.
One Young World Ambassadors have utilised online tools and innovative teaching methods to impact 108,150 students, including child refugees in Malaysia and Myanmar. Our projects have taught 30,000 students and 200 school teachers how to code.
Meet the 2019 Education Plenary Delegate Speakers:
Ahmad Nawaz, United Kingdom
Peace & Education Activist
When he was 18 years old, Ahmad survived the terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014 that took 150 lives. His work advocating for peace and education led him to become the third Pakistani to be awarded a Point of Light.
Kartik Sawhney, United States
Co-Founder of I-Stem
Kartik was the first blind student in India to pursue math and science in 11th grade and beyond. He went on to co-found I-Stem, an online platform offering technical training and mentorship to blind students in India.
Nimco Ali, United Kingdom
Activist, Author and Co-Founder and CEO of the Five Foundation
Nimco is an activist, entrepreneur & author of What We’re Told Not To Talk About (But We’re Going To Anyway.) She works to protect women at risk in communities that practice female genital mutilation.
Izzy Obeng, United Kingdom
Founder & Director of Foundervine
Izzy is founder and director of Foundervine – an inclusive enterprise community which develops early-stage entrepreneurs.
Alexia Hilbertidou, New Zealand
Founder of GirlBoss New Zealand
Alexia Hilbertidou is a New Zealand social entrepreneur and the founder of GirlBoss New Zealand, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to empower women in leadership, entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Charlotte Japp, United States
Founder of CIRKEL
Charlotte is the founder of CIRKEL, a platform that connects generations through speaker-led storytelling, intergenerational networking, and two-way mentorships.
Stay tuned for further announcements...
