Prof. Bonanome program co-director, Priya Joshi UNESCO GEM Representative, Farjana Shati CUNY Youth Ambassador and Prof. ElHitti program co-director

It was our pleasure to the launch this exciting educational partnership between CUNY and UNESCO in the presence of City Tech’s Provost August, Associate Provost Brown and several City Tech students and supporters on Friday, Feb 16. The core of this partnership is the collective potential of CUNY’s student body. CUNY faculty, students and alumni have repeatedly shown what can be achieved when given access to quality education. As we took the first steps together into the global arena on sustainable development and quality education, we were full of hope and excitement.

This program is unique as it aims to build an understanding within the CUNY student and faculty population of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In doing so, we hope to seed a movement of informed youth advocates active in local, national and international education spaces.

We were privileged and grateful to have Priya Joshi, a Research Officer at the Global Education Monitoring Report team at UNESCO in Paris present on the progress being made toward the UN Sustainable Development Goal – SDG4 Quality Education for All. Dr. Joshi is from Nepal and has a PhD in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She initiated and co-designed a global award winning mobile library project in Nepal. Her career trajectory and research have circled around how education and lifelong learning can be mobilized to support the broader ambitious agenda on sustainable development.

Following Dr. Joshi’s presentation was a Q & A with the CUNY Youth Ambassador Farjana Shati. You can find video clips of the three main questions here: 1, 2 and 3.

Priya Joshi UNESCO GEM Representative and Farjana Shati CUNY Youth Ambassador during Q & A

Professor Marianna Bonanome and Professor Samar ElHitti

From Farjana Shati the CUNY Youth Ambassador:

I was inspired at an even higher level on my second day participating at the YA. I was able to interact, engage, and listen to more youth delegates today. The atmosphere and vibe in the conference rooms was highly motivational. I reached the YA on time before Ms. Priya Joshi’s first session. (Priya Joshi is a member of the Global Education Monitoring, GEM, team.) This particular session I felt was especially empowering due to the two youth advocates’ panel session. The first panelist was a youth observer of 2017-2018 United Nation Association (UNA) in the USA. She is an undergraduate student and represents youth voices in the UNA-USA. I found her to be a role model for me and many young women.

I also attended the Campus Ambassadors Orientation & Panel (Session I). In this session, there were panelist from around the world. They spoke about their journey being the Campus Ambassadors and how they brought youth delegates from all round the world to participate in the youth assembly. I think this is something we can possibly implement at City Tech in years to come

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Priya Joshi, UNESCO GEM Representative and Farjana Shati, CUNY Youth Ambassador at the UN Winter Youth Assembly February 15, 2018

From Farjana Shati the CUNY Youth Ambassador:

By Farjana Shati:

In my fourth year as a Math Education major student at City Tech, I was looking forward towards the semester Winter Break. Nevertheless in December 2017, I was juggling between my high school student teaching placements and creating an honors research poster for a presentation. Next thing I know, I found myself interviewing for the 2018 CUNY Youth Ambassador (CYA) Position!

Reading the word “Ambassador” in the email heading made me feel unsteady. At first, I was not quite sure what this position would require of me. Yet I drew courage from the national conferences I had already participated in and was intrigued about the possibility to go to the UN headquarters in New York to attend the 2018 Winter Youth Assembly in February.

In preparation for my interview, I was asked by the program directors Prof. ElHitti and Prof. Bonanome to read an article they had published in Pass Blue earlier that year. The article in essence invited both the UN and CUNY to collaborate – especially on SDG4 (the UN Sustainable Development Goal, Quality Education for All.)  As I write this post, I now find myself comfortable with the acronyms “SDG,” SDG4,” “2030 Agenda,” etc. However just a month ago, as I went through the article for the first time, I felt bombarded by these unfamiliar phrases and terms. I then realized that I was up for a role which would challenge my academic horizons. It made me both excited and terrified!

The interview was eye opening and inspiring. I left it feeling good at heart thinking that an initiative to promote quality education by aligning with the UN’s vision is happening at City Tech. With this initiative CUNY students like myself who may not have had the opportunity to participate in education issues at the global level, can now have a platform from which to do so.

The day finally arrived when I received the confirmation email on being chosen as the CUNY Youth Ambassador. I became more nervous and anxious than I was for the interview in view of the enormous responsibility of the role. I consulted with every possible person I met that weekend starting with my parents, siblings, and cousins before committing to this prominent position. My community was drawn to the opportunity to work with the UN, and I was drawn to the possibility of realizing a lifelong dream I had to make a difference in people’s education and to the novel experience that lay ahead. I felt scared due to the expectations I will have to meet but at the same time I knew that being part of this program will allow me to give back to the City Tech community and will add to the opportunities for my fellow City Tech students, current and future, to grow beyond their academic skills and get prepared for a global workforce.

As the weekend drew to an end, and my mind was set up on accepting the role, I signed the agreement letter, drafted my bio, composed my acceptance email and courageously hit send. I woke up Monday morning, at the dawn of 2018, to start a new week, like I had done many times before, yet what was different now was that I was the CUNY Youth Ambassador and I was about to start on this new and exciting chapter of my life, along with the New Year!