DPI/NGO Youth Representatives Meeting

Thursday, 19th September 2013

Today was my first DPI/NGO Youth Representatives meeting for 2013! The meeting was just a small gathering of around 7 youth representatives, 3 of them new (including me) from various NGOs, such as Peace Boat, World Corrosion Organisation, Universal Unitarians and ATOP. The focus of the meeting was mainly to learn about each other’s NGOs, the work that we do and get connected with each other.

We also discussed the upcoming Youth Led Briefing (YLB) in November this year, which will be centred on the theme of education and youth. Brainstorming potential ideas for the session was terrific, because it really showed how dynamic and creative the energy of youth can be: how can I make this project relevant, how can I make it less boring, what kind of speakers do we want? It made me realise that when it comes to wanting to connect with young people, you have to grab their attention in such a way that the topic resonates with them. They are not interested in the prestige of the matter, they want something to touch their hearts.

That gives me hope that the young people of tomorrow are going to be ruled by both their hearts and their heads.

– by Asha Kurup