Youth advocate heading to key UN summits

UNICEF Youth Advocate Ashley Lashley was invited to The UN General Assembly (UNGA) 2022 and UNICEF Youth Advocates Mobilisation Lab. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) 2022 will be the first with large-scale in-person participation since 2019, and will include a strong focus on the learning crisis with the Secretary General’s Transforming Education Summit.

As part of the 2022 workplan for the Global UNICEF Youth Advocates Programme and the strategy to engage UNICEF Youth Advocates and young leaders in UNGA, UNICEF will be hosting the first-ever UNICEF Youth Advocates Mobilisation Lab.

Over a period of 4-5 days, selected young people will participate in an exciting programme that includes: a flagship UNICEF public-facing event linked to one or more of the Global Advocacy Priorities; participating in UNGA events and side-events as panelists, MCs, speakers; speaking out and raising awareness through press interviews and social media activations; engaging with UNICEF Leadership; meeting, sharing, and learning with other Youth Advocates; and strengthening their skills and deepening their knowledge about UNICEF’s programming and advocacy.

UNICEF Youth Advocate Ashley Lashley, given her active role in promoting the transformation of education, she will be participating in the UNGA Mobilisation Day Transforming Education Summit to put education at the top of the global political agenda and seek to tackle this crisis decisively. Her focus will be ‘Healthy & Educated – Investing in School Health and Nutrition (SHN) to Transform Education and the Lives of Children and Young People’ with heads of state on school health and nutrition.

Lashley will also be on a panel discussion being hosted by UNICEF USA in partnership with the Concordia Summit to advocate for child rights, champion global youth voices, and reinforce UUSA’s position as a child rights and development thought leader. This panel will be a moderate panel discussion with UNICEF USA Ambassador, actor, and singer Sofia Carson UNICEF USA National Youth Council Member Ayaan Siddiqui, and UNICEF Youth Advocate Ashley Lashley who will discuss the importance of youth-led change, the role of policymakers and business leaders in supporting youth, and the future of youth activism and connectivity on September 20th, 2022.

Lashley will also be participating in a Bilateral Meeting with UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Karin Hulshof.

She will continue her journey throughout her time in New York with other for UNICEF’s inspiring young climate activists to meet with the Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary- General for Climate Action at the United Nations Selwin Hart, to discuss COP27 and highlight the importance of young people’s participation in climate decision-making processes and have an open discussion with key leaders in the climate field. (PR)