In the midst of numerous global challenges, OYW Ambassadors have demonstrated their continued leadership in their countries and communities. This week, Ambassadors have launched new projects, been given prestigious accolades and were featured by global forums.
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Kehkashan Basu
Forbes' 30 Under 30 List
Canada
Kehkashan was listed as one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 - Education for her work in founding Green Hope Foundation. Green Hope's goal is to teach and implement the UN's sustainable development goals through events and grassroots action and have worked with 100,000 young people in 16 countries including India, the UAE and Liberia.
Dylan Kaplan
Forbes' 30 Under 30 List
United States
Dylan Kaplan and his co-founder Helen Guo were recognised on the 30 Under 30 - Food & Drink list. These Georgetown University graduates struggled to find no-sugar added snacks, so they decided to create their own. In March 2019, the pair launched Schoolyard Snacks from their 450-square-foot apartment, producing Keto-approved low-carb, low-sugar cereals and cheese puffs.
Brighton Kaoma
BBC Interview - UN Secretary-General
Zambia
Brighton Kaoma interviewed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speak about the State of the Planet on the BBC World Service.
Brighton is a radio journalist, environmental activist, youth empowerment leader and WWF Consultant.
Gracian Mkandawire
IOC Young Leaders Program
Malawi
Gracian was selected to be part of the International Olympic Committee – IOC Young leaders program. The IOC Young Leaders programme, launched in 2016, empowers talents to leverage the power of sport to make a positive difference in their communities. In the program, participants learn about Professor Muhammad Yunus and his seven principles of social business, before exploring how and why social business models and approaches are being used to solve problems in, through and around sport.
Waad Alkateab and Ilwad Elman
BBC 100 Women 2020
Syria, Somalia
The BBC has revealed its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2020. Waad and Iwad were both featured on this list, highlighting their work leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Chair of the APPG for PSVI, Antony Mangnal MP, arranged a joint statement, signed by over 100 parliamentarians from across ten different countries, to call for governments across the world to prioritise tackling gender-based violence, both at home and abroad.
Numerous MPs in the One Young World Community signed, including: Tabata Amaral de Pontes, Renan Ferreirinha Carneiro, Sarah Elago, Ebba Hermansson, Herve Berville, Thórdís Kolbrún Gylfadóttir, Mbali Ntuli and Lynne Ruane.
Mozamel Aman
Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship Program
Afghanistan
Through Startupistan100, Mozamel hopes to train 100 Afghan students (50 female, 50 male) in an intensive six-month digital skills and entrepreneurship program. Startupistan teaches contemporary skills that employers are looking for. To do this, they are launching the Startupistan100 crowdfunding campaign to raise €100,000 ($120,000). Since launching in 2019, Startupistan has had over 1500+ applications for financial aid to participate in their courses in Kabul.
Elissa Glorie
Rotterdam's "Next Level Entrepreneurs" Feature
Australia
Elissa’s social enterprise, Moja, is being featured by the Impact Days as one of Rotterdam's "Next Level Entrepreneurs", with an aim to encourage people to buy with impact and make a difference.
Moja is an underwear company that aims to make good hygiene a reality for everyone. For every pair sold, one pair of underwear or a reusable sanitary pad is distributed in Tanzania, alongside hygiene workshops.
Osama Bin Noor
COVID-19 Recovery Project
Bangladesh
Osama has organised ‘Write to Fight Post COVID-19 Era’, a national writing competition for Bangladesh's Recovery Idea and Plan in partnership with the Bangladesh government, NGOs, and private sector organisations. The aim of the project is to provide a platform to youth to raise their voice, share their thoughts, pitch their ideas and recommend their suggestions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic across ten thematic areas.
Jerome Harvey-Agyei
Opportunity to help Careleavers
United Kingdom
Jerome Harvey-Agyei is the co-founder of The Tope Project and they are looking into support to help Careleavers who do not have a family to spend Christmas with. They aim to help connect up to 200 young people in London on Christmas day to add some connection and love to those who wouldn't normally be thought about during these times.
Mete Coban, Arash Bordbar, Kehkashan Basu and Apefa Adjivon
World Humanitarian Forum Youth Council
United Kingdom, Australia, Canada
The World Humanitarian Forum announced the appointment of their Youth Council to support the organisation's policy and decision-making processes. Members included OYW Ambassadors Cllr Mete Coban MBE, CEO of My Life My Say; Arash Bordbar, coordinator of UNHCR; Kehkashan Basu, Founder of Green Hope Foundation; and Apefa Adjivon, United Nations Canadian Youth Commission.
17th November
Jamira Burley was invited to speak at the 2020 Women's Forum for the Economy & Society on November 17 in the 'Women expanding women's leadership' alongside Alyse Nelson of the Vital Voices Global Partnership
18th November
Aya Chebbi was one of the main speakers at an event hosted by Wilton Park in partnership with the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy and the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Aya presented the findings and recommendations from their policy paper entitled "Facts & Figures of Africa Youth Agency Challenges and Recovery Roadmap on COVID-19".
1st December
One Young World partnered on UN Food Systems Summit pre-event, #BoldActions4Food. OYW Ambassadors Tolulope Aina and Anisha Godha took part as panellists.
3rd December
OYW Ambassador Ozzie Clarke-Binns spoke at the Responsible Business Live event, a special one-off broadcast, produced by Sky, reflecting both on a momentous year, and the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for responsible business in 2021 and beyond. Other speakers included Hillary Clinton and Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch.
Zahin Rohan Razeen
Bangladesh
Zahin has been nominated for the Rising Star Award by Impact.Engineered. This forum is sponsored by ASME and Engineering for Change which recognizes and amplifies the role of engineering rigour in solving global challenges identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mandy Muchnick
South Africa
Mandy was featured on the South Africa Institute for Chartered Accountant 35 under 35 list. At the Awards ceremony, she was also spotlighted as the winner in the Influence Category for her exceptional work to drive forward several causes.
George Imafidon
United Kingdom
George Imafidon received the Powerlist 2021 Community Award sponsored by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Powerlist highlights Britain’s most influential people of African, African Caribbean and African American Heritage.
Luna Yu
Canada
Luna has been selected as one of the Corporate Knights Top 30 UNDER 30 Sustainability Leaders of Canada.
Ivy Mwaura
United Kingdom
Ivy was named as the winner of the Infrastructure: Above and Beyond award at the 2020 Amazon Everywoman in Transport and Logistics Awards, which celebrate exceptional individuals in the sector. Ivy is a Strategic Marketing Analyst at FedEx. She was nominated for her contributions to a project that yielded in excess of 30 million pounds of revenue through analytics and data science.
Monica Moisin
Romania
Launched in memory of social innovation pioneer Diogo Vasconcelos, the European Social Innovation Competition is a challenge prize run by the European Commission across all EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. Monica's WhyWeCraft initiative was selected as winners.
Bibi La Luz Gonzalez
Guatemala
Bibi was named as one of the finalists for the Heroes of the Pandemic by the Fundación Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch for her food security initiative as part of her organisation Come Mejor Wa'ik. The award recognised those who risked their lives to support others without expecting anything in return.