The annual One Young World Summit is being conducted in Belfast, United Kingdom this year from 2-5 Oct.
One Young World Summit:
Around 190+ countries participate in this summit, including 250+ organisation who mainly talk on the topics that are socially important. These young leaders who are concerned about the upcoming generation collectively look for ideas and solution for the most pressing issues like climatic change or social injustice.
Empowering for Social change:
After this 4 day extensive program of speeches, discussions, workshops, etc these delegates graduate as One Young World Ambassadors. After that, they will continue their life in their respective communities but try to bring effective change in the surrounding. According to stats, around 41 million people have been impacted so far.
This year the attendees of the event were Queen Raina Abdullah of Jordan, Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland), Juan Manuel Santos (former president of Columbia and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate), Didier Drogba (former football star, Goodwill ambassador of sports and health, WHO), Lucy Hale (Mental health advocate), Kat Graham (actress, UNHCR ambassador), Michael Moller (former UN general), and many more.
Politics over planet:
At the youth summit, speakers pointed out that problems like climate change and food security are getting sidelined because of political tensions between countries. Paul Polman, a business leader who’s also into climate action mentioned that many politicians, focused on winning the next election, are choosing the quick and popular options, even if it means hurting the planet in the long run. He addressed the geopolitical conflicts across nation which is distracting the world from focusing on other major concerns.
Paul Polman’s concerns and solutions:
According to him, we’ve delayed addressing global issues for too long, leading to significant costs in areas like biodiversity loss and food crises. He said that young people have a lot of energy. They know it’s their future on the line, and they want us to take action, especially on these important issues.
He stressed that issues such as greed, apathy, and selfishness might be at the core of the problem. He emphasized the crucial role of capable leaders in steering both companies and countries. He then turned attention to the significant contribution of food systems, generating one-third of greenhouse emissions, characterizing this as a self-destructive pattern.
To address this situation, he proposed a reversal of the current trend by advocating for actions such as reforestation, improvement of soil health, and the promotion of more nutritious food. According to his recommendation, such measures could potentially contribute up to 30 percent toward resolving the existing challenges.
Statements of other notable Delegates:
“Any business that embraces it, I think, is positioning themselves better. Increasingly, we see consumers or citizens of this world asking for (climate action),” said Nitin Paranjpe (Chief People and Transformation officer, Unilever). He further highlighted that companies achieving active decarbonization in their business models not only respond to this demand but also tend to experience greater financial success.
Hasina Safi, the former Minister of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan and one of this year’s speakers, expressed that the summit provides a chance to mentor the younger generation and contribute to the construction of a more secure future.
“As a generation that has lived through both successes and setbacks, we, the elder generation, have the chance to share our experiences with the younger generation. By providing them with the realities of our journey, we aim to pave the way for progress and restore the stability that seems vague worldwide,” expressed the civil society and women’s rights activist in a conversation with CNA’s Asia Now.
Encouraging Young Leader’s story:
In this big gathering, there’s Zoya Miari, a peace ambassador and nurse with a tough past, shared her life story to encourage the masses. She started in a refugee camp in Lebanon, feeling pretty embarrassed about it. Living in a tiny room with her family for 15 years wasn’t easy.
Then, they tried to start fresh in Ukraine, but everything went south with the Russian invasion. Zoya remembers how close she came to death while escaping the war. That moment changed her—it made her decide not to stay silent anymore
Now, living in Switzerland, Zoya looks back at her refugee life differently. Yeah, wars and tough times bring a lot of pain, but she sees another side. Zoya talks about the strength and toughness that come out of those hard times. She says refugees sometimes feel like victims because of wars they didn’t choose. But she believes they shouldn’t let those tough times be the boss of their story. Instead, she cheers for their strength to shine through.
