Ten Western University students were chosen to attend the 2018 United Nations (UN) Youth Assembly, which took place from February 14 to 16 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The theme for this year’s conference was innovation and collaboration for a sustainable world, with special focus on environmental sustainability, leveraging the private sector and technology for international development.
“It is a time for learning about the various initiatives being carried out by youth around the world… on how we can work together to co-create a more sustainable world by fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 that the UN has created,” said Pranavi Cheemakurti, a third year BMOS and political science major at Western University and attendee of the event.
Any individual between the ages of 16 and 28 with a particular interest in politics can apply through the Youth Assembly website to attend the conference.
“If you’re interested in a career in development, nonprofits, social innovation or politics, this is a great platform to learn more,” said Cheemakurti.
Assembly sessions began around 9AM and continued throughout the day. Delegates are given the opportunity to choose the sessions they attend, rather than being assigned to groups. This provided attendees a chance to learn more about their interests associated with the UN.
Jordan Hibbs, the presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC, also attended the Youth Assembly and shared her experience of one of the sessions on her blog.
“In the session on ‘Gender Equality for Education 2030,’ we were split into several groups and asked to come up with three things that need to be addressed in order to achieve gender equality. Our group discussed multiple ideas including; education, access to reproductive care, equal pay for equal work, and changing laws to stop child marriage,” stated Hibbs.
The diversity of the workshops provided a personalized opportunity for the students to learn more about their own interests. Cheemakurti explored the private sector related workshops that were available.
“I attended a workshop on leveraging the private sector for sustainable development, a session on smart cities, a workshop on conflict mediation from Columbia Law School, as well as a session on how to leverage technology for development, ” said Cheemakurti.
Jordan Koop, another Western delegate in her third year as a media, information, and technoculture student, recognized that many female leaders were present at the assembly.
“It was amazing to see all of these women using their voice, skills, and platform to fight for sustainable change on an international level,” stated Koop.
Most of the youth that were present at the conference have contributed to their own fields of interest in an impactful way, creating effective networking opportunities for delegates from all over the world.
“The networking opportunities available by visiting the permanent missions of Afghanistan, Japan and Canada is where I was able to talk to and learn from high level officials and ambassadors and get their take on world events are also unparalleled. They were very open and willing to help and very encouraging and supportive when they heard about the work we were doing,” explained Cheemakurti.
Cheemakurti, along with three other Western students, have started up a social enterprise called MilkyWay. The startup of MilkyWay is one of the reasons to why Cheemakurti stood out as an applicant when applying for the Youth Assembly.
The enterprise tackles infant mortality by creating the world’s first commercialized breast milk donation service, targeted towards marginalised communities.
The next steps for MilkyWay are to finish testing and start piloting in London, Ontario and eventually expand to service indigenous communities across Canada.
“Ideally, we see ourselves being an international organization where breast milk donation can happen between local citizens helping local people in need where local corporations are sponsoring this exchange,” states Cheemakurti.
Visit MilkyWay’s Facebook page here and learn more about the United Nations Youth Assembly here.
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