#YAS20

THE WORLD WE WANT

TIME FOR CHANGE

2020 YOUNG ACTIVISTS SUMMIT

On World Children’s Day on 20 November 2020, the Young Activists Summit (#YAS20) brought together seven young activists advancing climate action, biodiversity, human rights, sustainable & ethical fashion.

The coronavirus crisis has been a massive disrupter but also an opportunity to rethink the world we want for tomorrow. Young people have the right to demand that the recovery plans they will fund be spent on rebuilding sustainable societies that protect the interests of present and future generations.

At a critical time for our planet and humanity, #YAS20 brought together around 9,000 people from 106 countries across five continents for a global live discussion on some of the world’s biggest challenges.

#YAS20 was co-organised by the NGO dev.tv, the United Nations Office at Geneva, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and its GenèveVision label, and by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

2020 ACTIVISTS

MOHAMAD AL JOUNDE

GHARSAH SWEDEN

FIONA AMONY

RESTLESS DEVELOPMENT

ALEXANDRA CEREZO

FASHION REVOLUTION

EMMA SLEIMAN / ZAHRAA ISSA

LOCATE VICTIMS BEIRUT

VANESSA NAKATE

YOUTH FOR FUTURE AFRICA / RISE UP

FINLAY PRINGLE

SEA SHEPHERD

VISIBILITY

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

SUPPORT TO THE ACTIVISTS

The 2020 Activists were able to carry out a field project thanks to the support of YAS, thus enabling the Young Activists Summit to have a concrete and long-lasting impact on the ground.

CO-ORGANIZED BY

dev.tv, non-profit NGO of media professionals

United Nations Office at Geneva

RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Fondation Hélène et Victor Barbour

Fondation pour Genève

Migros

George Couri

Sisley Initiative

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Swiss Confederation

Republic and State of Geneva

City of Geneva

European Union

Permanent Mission of Canada

Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN Geneva

Permanent Mission of Finland

Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom

Fight for Humanity

UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund

WITH THE KIND SUPPORT OF

TV5MONDE

Eduki

Act on your Future

Philantropic Adventures

Actua

Chantal Bernheim media consultant

Kofi Annan Foundation

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UN Information Centre Beirut

UN Information Centre Panama City

Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH)

Yan Luong digital communication

Zoein Foundation

Donna Reitano, em4

House of Ocean

Les Jeunes IHEDN

180 Grad Wende

MOHAMAD AL JOUNDE

Gharsah Sweden

Mohamad (19) grew up in Syria. At the age of 12, he fled to Lebanon and ended up in a refugee camp where he was not able to go to school. With the help of his family and other volunteers, Mohamad founded the Gharsah School in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, which supports Syrian refugees through educational, psychosocial and civil empowerment for children, adolescents and women. The school now reaches 240 children and 500 women on a yearly basis.

Mohamad is currently studying in Sweden, where he founded an NGO called Gharsah Sweden that aims to introduce the values of his work in Lebanon to local communities, as well as to raise funds to help sustain the Gharsah School. His NGO developed emergency plans to address the COVID-19 pandemic, distribute food baskets and hygiene kits, provide psychological support during the lockdown and develop online learning.

For his activism, Mohamad has received several international awards, including the International Children’s Peace Prize 2017 and MTV EMA Generation Change Award 2018.

FIONA AMONY

Restless Development

Fiona (24) is a Ugandan activist who has been fighting against sexual abuse and for girls’ empowerment since 2017, when she joined Restless Development as a Volunteer on the Girls’ Advocacy Alliance (GAA).

During the Covid-19 lockdown, she ran a call-centre to report cases of gender-based violence and economic exclusion. Within a month, Fiona filed more than 100 reported cases of sexual assault and harassment. Other cases related to employers failing to pay salaries were also reported.

She has been active in her community, whether through the media or meetings with key stakeholders, to shed light on the fact that thousands of school girls were impregnated and/or married off during the lockdown in Uganda.

ALEXANDRA CEREZO

Fashion Revolution

Alexandra (25) is a Guatemalan fashion designer who advocates for the protection of humanity and the planet. She has worked to develop solution-based projects advancing sustainability in the apparel and textile industry.

Since 2017, she has carried out research on textile innovations within Guatemala’s fashion industry to connect both designers and manufacturers to facilitate a transition to sustainable fashion. She is the co-founder of the project ‘Ambiente Humano’ focusing on practical sustainability and will soon launch ‘Espacio Recreado’, which intends to shed light on the link between textile production and biodiversity.

Alexandra is the country coordinator for Fashion Revolution Guatemala.

EMMA SLEIMAN / ZAHRAA ISSA

Locate Victims Beirut

Emma & Zahraa have created “Locate Victims Beirut” which includes an Instagram page, a platform and a website to locate missing victims following the explosion on 4 August 2020 in Beirut. 36 hours after it went live, their Instagram account counted nearly 100,000 followers, demonstrating the need for such a platform. To respond to this urgent need, Emma & Zahraa set up a team of volunteers to collect, centralize, coordinate and compile lists of missing, found or hospitalized victims. They now also serve as a resource for victims to find the aid they need, including free shelter, humanitarian assistance, and psychological support.

VANESSA NAKATE

Youth for Future Africa / Rise Up

Vanessa (24) started a climate activist movement in Uganda with her individual strike outside parliament in January 2019, to oppose the passivity of governments in the face of climate change.

In January 2020, she and other youth climate activists from around the world, publicly requested participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos to call on companies, banks and governments to immediately stop subsidising fossil fuels.

Vanessa has led a fundraising campaign to install solar systems and eco-friendly stoves in schools in rural communities to drive a transition to renewable energy. She founded the Youth for Future Africa and the Africa-based Rise Up Movement to help draw attention to the protection of Congolian rainforests, as well as the 1 Million Activist Stories platform.

FINLAY PRINGLE

Sea Shepherd

Finlay (13) is a Scottish marine conservation campaigner, climate change activist and Sea Shepherd Shark Ambassador.

He runs a campaign to ban shark fin soup in restaurants across the UK and to ban shark-finning worldwide. He also campaigns against marine plastic pollution and is always out litter picking and beach cleaning.

He won the 2019 Daily Mirror ‘Young Animal Hero of the year’, and collaborates with the education company Twinkl to produce global teaching resources for schools on sharks and climate change. He was the first young person in the UK to join the Fridays For Future (FFF) movement and began school striking every Friday from December 2018.

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