WOMEN AND GIRLS DRIVING PROGRESS

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#YAS19

WOMEN AND GIRLS
DRIVING PROGRESS

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2019 YOUNG ACTIVISTS SUMMIT

#YAS19 was held on 10 December 2019, Human Rights Day, in the iconic Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Organized by the NGO dev.tv, the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), the first Young Activists Summit welcomed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad as its guest of honour. It brought together six young female activists whose inspiring backgrounds and achievements deserve to be celebrated. The youth session and award ceremony, along with a comprehensive media plan, allowed to showcase women and girls as key drivers of progress.

Watch the youth session
Watch the award ceremony

Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad was the guest of honour of the first YOUNG ACTIVISTS SUMMIT (#YAS19), whose theme in 2019 was WOMEN AND GIRLS DRIVING PROGRESS.

2019 ACTIVISTS

NADIA MURAD

NADIA'S INITIATIVE

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MEMORY BANDA

FOUNDATION 4 GIRLS LEADERSHIP

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AMY & ELLA MEEK

KIDS AGAINST PLASTIC

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HAMANGAÍ PATAXÓ

ENGAJAMUNDO

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REBECCA KABUO

LUCHA

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VISIBILITY

  • • More than 8.2 million people were reached on social media through the #YAS19 hashtag.
  • • The Youth Session and Award Ceremony –livestreamed on Facebook and UNTV in French, Arabic, English, and Portuguese – brought together 19,350 people online.
  • • The #YAS19 videos were viewed over 300,000 times on Facebook.
  • • #YAS19 was covered by many global and local news outlets, including Euronews, BBC World Service, TV5Monde, FranceTV, l’ATS, Swissinfo, SRF, 20 minutes, MBC, 24 Heures, Le Matin, la Tribune de Genève, le Journal du Jura, A Voz da Cidade, Nyasa Times, etc.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

  • • 750 young people from the Geneva region and its surroundings took part in the Youth Session.
  • • The Award Ceremony brought together 600 participants in Geneva.
  • • The Summit had a very positive impact on the activists and the causes they advance. Some examples include: - Following the Summit, the government of Malawi addressed formal congratulations to Memory Banda on her work against child marriage, which helped her gain credibility in her home country. - Additional funding was raised after the event, as a result of the participation of key stakeholders in the Summit at the Palais des Nations. - Hamangaí Pataxó, Memory Banda and Rebecca Kabuo were invited to take part in global events and campaigns. - Kids Against Plastic launched its ‘Kids Against Plastic Brazil’ initiative. - Hamangaí Pataxó is now featured in Brazilian textbooks.

DONATIONS

To support the 2020 Activists in advancing their causes, Sisley Paris generously granted a donation to each laureate, thus enabling the Young Activists Summit to have a concrete and long-lasting impact on the ground.

ORGANIZED BY

United Nations Office at Geneva

RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse

dev.tv, non-profit NGO of media professionals

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Mécénat Sisley

Fondation Hélène et Victor Barbour

Oak Foundation

Fondation Tellus Viva

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Swiss Confederation

OHCHR, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Republic and State of Geneva

City of Geneva

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Permanent Mission of Canada

European Union

UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund

Fight for Humanity

Tataki RTS

WITH THE KIND SUPPORT OF

MCI group

InterContinental Genève

Eduki

Act on your Future

UN Women

UNE® SA

Cabinet Privé de Conseils

em4

Frontline Defenders

Yan Luong digital communication

Abena Lauber fundraising & capacity building

William Boley risk management professional

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Nadia Murad

Nadia's Initiative

Prix Nobel de la paix 2018

Nadia Murad was among thousands of Yazidi women who were abducted, raped, and enslaved by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS). She was 21 at the time. During her captivity, Nadia Murad was detained and sold as a sex slave at various EI sites before finally escaping.

Nadia Murad has since led an intense campaign to draw the attention of governments to the plight of the Yazidi, including women in sexual slavery.

Nadia Murad is the founder and president of Nadia’s Initiative, which is dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and defending the rights of victims of violence.

NADIA'S INITIATIVE

Memory Banda

Foundation 4 girls leadership

Memory Banda is a Malawian child rights activist who has drawn the international community’s attention to her work against early and forced marriages. Her advocacy has helped change the attitudes of traditional leaders and even the law of her country: her campaign has helped raise the minimum legal age for marriage from 15 to 18 years.

Through her tireless work in defending girls’ rights, Memory Banda plays a key role in solving problems that affect the well-being of girls in Malawi. In 2018, Memory Banda founded the “Foundation 4 Girls Leadership”. F4GL provides training to girls and promotes their access to education. The foundation also works to strengthen girls’ rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services, as well as to end early marriage.

Learn more about the 4 Girls Leadership Foundation

4 GIRLS LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION

Amy & Ella Meek

Kids Against Plastic

Amy and Ella Meek are the founders of the campaign and the association “Kids Against Plastic”, a social action project for young people that addresses one of the world’s biggest environmental problems – plastic pollution. The two sisters Amy and Ella Meek work with young people, schools and companies. Ella, 14, has her own show on Sky Kids.

Amy and Ella Meek are currently focusing on their “Plastic Clever” program, a positive reward program that encourages a more judicious use of single-use plastics. To date, more than 50 cafés- restaurants, companies and public entities have joined this program, as well as more than 470 schools. To learn more about Kids Against Plastic.

KIDS AGAINST PLASTIC

Hamangaí Pataxó

Engajamundo

Hamangaí Pataxó is an activist for the rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of nature. Hamangaí Pataxó grew up in the state of Bahia and faces the struggle of its people – the Pataxós Hã-hã-hae – for their land. Its region is valued for its major development projects.

Hamangaí Pataxó went to COP24 in Poland in 2018, she was part of the Engajamundo delegation. In 2019 she participated in the Villagio per la Terra in Rome, where she spoke about the Amazon and the importance of protecting the people who live there. This event was attended by young people and a delegation from the European Union.

Find out more about the NGO Engajamundo

ENGAJAMUNDO

Rebecca Kabuo

Lucha

Rebecca Kabuo is a Congolese activist, part of LUCHA (Fight for change), a non-violent and non-partisan movement founded by young people. LUCHA is campaigning for respect for democracy and the Constitution in the DRC.

When she was detained for 6 months, Rebecca Kabuo was described on social networks as the youngest prisoner of conscience in the world. She received the International Women of Courage Award in 2017 and continues to actively advocate for respect for democracy and the Constitution.

Learn more about LUCHA

LUCHA

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