Youth ambassadors from Uganda and Malawi travel to Ireland to speak at a number of events – creating a forum for exchanging how it is to be a young activist in 2022
The first of the GOAL NextGen Youth Programme graduates are coming to Ireland this week to join Irish activists for GOAL’s NextGen X Change – a knowledge exchange event over Instagram live @GOALnextgen
on Monday 17th at 6.30pm. Young activists will meet and share their honest learnings, creating a shared platform of how it is to be a young person striving for change.
The event will be followed with the world premier of Vision for Change, a powerful spoken word art piece by Adam Muhamed, an Irish-Sudanese spoken word artist and musician, one of the panelists who will speak at GOAL’s NextGen X Change. Adam worked alongside the GOAL NextGen Youth Programme to develop the spoken word piece that has been produced into a film, scored with his own original music. Adam will be joined at the GOAL’s NextGen X Change by the visiting graduates of GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programme: Nancy Kamwaz, a youth worker and climate change spokesperson from Malawi, and Felix Onand Olindi from Uganda, an advocate for promoting youth literacy and sustainability through the arts.
While in Ireland Nancy and Felix will attend a number of youth, climate and human rights focused seminars and discussions. The programme of events they will attend include:
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Saturday 15th: COP ON Youth Climate Festival
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Monday 17th: GOAL NextGen Youth x Change & Premier of Vision for Change’
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Tuesday 18th: Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival (18th – 23rd October) Climate Change Panel Discussion and Global Citizens Journey workshop.
Earlier this year GOAL put the call out to young people from across the globe, aged between 18 and 25 with an interest in or understanding of global issues, to apply for their NextGen Youth Programme 2022. This programme brings together young people from all over the world to deepen their understanding of global citizenship and linked global justice issues, guiding young, motivated changemakers to learn about the UN Sustainable Development GOALs and empowering them with the knowledge and skills to act for a more sustainable future for all.
Participants in the programme collaborate in developing creative awareness-raising tools to share their learnings and hopes for a more connected world with other young people across Ireland and beyond. The programme sees them build skills in group facilitation, intercultural communication, project management, critical thinking, and more. Co-creation and youth participation guide the development of the programme.
Speaking about the mission of the programme: GOAL [insert title, insert name] had this to say: “GOAL’s NextGen Youth programme brings young people together from all over the world to deepen their understanding of Global Citizenship. We believe that deeper and longer-term engagement is the best possible way to support a generation of young people who are passionate about a fairer and more sustainable future.”
Speaking about their participation in GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programme visiting graduates had this to say:
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Nancy Kamwaz from Malawi, GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programme graduate: “The NextGen Youth Network has opened doors of possibility for me. My identity, my opinions, my beliefs and my sense of responsibility over global issues has been greatly influenced by this experience. It has been the big things and the small things.”
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Felix Onand Olindi from Uganda, GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programme graduate: “The GOAL NextGen youth programme changed my perspective of the world. It deepened my understanding of our interconnectedness and how our actions affect people and the environment beyond us. I am now a strong advocate of environmental conservation among the youth I work with, because of my participation in this programme.”
Tune in to GOAL’s NextGen X Change to hear more from Nancy and Felix, and for the World Premier of Vision for Change by Adam Muhammond. Follow @GOALnextgen on Instagram and tune in live on Monday 17th at 6.30pm.
Discover more about GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programmes mission here: