Claudine Enduma, Finalist of the Geneva Challenge 2022, opened the event by highlighting the numerous challenges facing the current generation of 1.8 billion young people, including their limited access to employment and education, as well as to decision-making processes. She furthermore highlighted the age-specific challenges facing young activists, including limited resources and political resistance. The panellists reiterated and substantiated with examples from their activism throughout the discussion.
The Origins of their Activism
The panellists began by recounting what sparked their activism. Sudanese climate activist Nisreen Elsaim, General Coordinator of the Youth and Environment Society, Co-Founder of Sudan Youth Organisations on Climate Change, and former Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Committee on Climate Change,, shared that her interest in climate activism began when she was in her first year of university, studying physics in Sudan. The killing of one of the students at her university made her realise that “science can change the world but if we don’t have scientists as decision-makers, then the science will probably stay in books.” Based on this realisation, she began to research science diplomacy, which taught her about climate change and ultimately sparked her climate activism.
Toha Shamsoo Issah, on the other hand, Founder and Executive Director of African Students for Interfaith Tolerance, and 2023 Annan Changemaker, first began his activist journey with a social media post, in which he shed light on the unfair distribution of social services among Ghanaians. Then, the religiously motivated terrorist attacks on mosques in New Zealand and on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka in 2019, sparked his advocacy on interfaith tolerance. The events made him realise that religiously motivated crimes were being committed closer to his home country of Ghana.To address this issue, he started working with young people and traditional leaders to promote interfaith tolerance.
Junbert Pabon, Founder of Turning Point and 2021 Kofi Annan Changemaker, became interested in improving conditions for children in conflict with the law (CICL) in the Philippines when volunteering at a facility for CICL as a high school student. He describes the facilities as “dark, decaying [...] prisons” lacking “hope for a second chance” and as mirroring adult prisons. Based on this experience, he founded Turning Point, which provides vocational skills and basic psycho-social support for CICL in the Philippines.
Dealing with Challenges
Next, the panellists shared challenges they have faced on their journeys. Issah shared that his family was not happy with his activism at first because they were concerned for his safety. However, he recounts that this taught him to be okay with not being understood, even by those closest to him while working towards the greater good. He also shared that he at times felt a lack of support for the experiences he was going through but that this changed when he became a Kofi Annan Changemaker and was able to share his experiences with other like-minded young changemakers.
Nisreen shared that several of the main challenges she faced as an activist are related to her Sudanese origin. Due to the multitude of other pressing issues in Sudan, she was often told that climate activism had to take a back step to peacebuilding and democracy building. Furthermore, many of the International Organizations and donors with aid programmes in Sudan prioritise issues for the country. However, she highlighted the need to see the many issues Sudan is facing as interconnected. She emphasised that climate change is a conflict trigger and multiplier and that conflict affects those who are most vulnerable to climate change the most. Furthermore, she highlighted that for there to be good climate governance, institutions need to be strengthened in the first place. She also explained that because of her Sudanese nationality, she has had a difficult time obtaining visas and funding to partake in international conferences. Nisreen also struggled to access information about climate change in Arabic or local Sudanese languages, rendering it more difficult to educate herself on the topic.
Several of the panellists touched upon challenges related to their age. Nisreen recounted being told to stay in the shadow of large organisations and older activists who have more of a reputation, financial resources, and skills. However, she dismissed these “excuses,” explaining that these factors do not stop young people from making a difference and can be overcome through capacity building. Furthermore, Junbert reflected on his naïveté as a high school student starting out as an activist and his journey towards sustainably funding Turning Point.
Issah added that the pay-off of activists’ work takes time and progress can be slow. He is only starting to see first successes now, after five years of work.
Success Stories
After discussing some of the main challenges they have faced on their activist journeys, the panellists shared success stories from their work. Junbert began by recounting the story of two boys who “went from being lawbreakers to being peacemakers,” which reminded him of “the power of hope and the power of second chances.” One of the boys used the numerous certificates he had received for his eager participation in Turning Point’s programmes as proof of his rehabilitation when his case went to court and was released from the facility. The other boy began volunteering to teach other children in conflict with the law the practical skills he had learned in Turning Point’s livelihood programmes upon his release from the facility.
In light of her participation in the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Nisreen shared her lengthy but ultimately successful journey of boosting previously lacking African representation in the UN Youth Delegate programme. On her journey to establishing a Sudanese delegation to the UN Youth Delegate programme and eventually bringing into fruition an African UN Youth Delegate programme, she faced several challenges, including dictatorship, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a coup d’état but she persevered in her efforts and finally succeeded in 2022, after five years of efforts to bring the programme to life.
Issah shared that he considers the establishment of the Youth Interreligious Parliament in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Foundation changemakers initiative as one of the biggest successes of his work. The parliament brings together youth delegates from over 10 communities with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, allowing the participating young people to learn from each other, engage in dialogue, and make recommendations to decision makers. He also shared a touching moment from one of the Ghana Peace Camps that African Students for Interfaith Tolerance organises annually. After a session on forgiveness, a young participant shared her painful past and decided to forgive her perpetrator to give herself the space to grow beyond what had happened.
Recommendations for Policymakers Seeking to Empower Youth
When asked how policymakers and International Organizations can better support young people, all three panellists highlighted that they better need to understand young people and their needs. Issah recounted that policymakers often assume young people’s priorities, without consulting them. For instance, many policymakers assume that the biggest priority for young people are employment opportunities, when many youth in Issah’s social circle in Ghana are more interested in accessing credit to scale up their businesses than accessing jobs. To do so, Nisreen emphasised that youth need to be included in the design and implementation of these policies, and ideally become policymakers themselves.
Key Takeaways
The panel included a powerful message for young activists in the audience: perseverance and self-care are essential. Nisreen reminded her peers to take care of their mental health, recognising that activism is a long and demanding journey. The event offered a compelling showcase of the resilience, creativity, and impact of young people working to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. It further highlighted key age-specific barriers young activists face.