Dr. Djibril Diallo, President & Chief Executive Officer, African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Inc.

This past weekend, I had the honor of being the 2019 CUNY Youth Ambassador for the United Nations Winter Youth Assembly as a guest of UNESCO and Friendship Ambassadors Foundation. I represented CUNY, the largest public institution in the United States, as well as the Center for Advanced Study in Education (CASE) and I met so many powerful leaders. These leaders came in all ages, ranging from a 16 year old girl who was leading the New York Coalition fighting for gender equality, to someone who has been leading a department of the UN for over 30 years. These incredibly empowering people have truly taught me that “the youth is not the future, but rather the present”. Hearing Dr. Malvika Iyer discuss her success while being a bilateral amputee since the age 13 brought me to realize that there is truly nothing we cannot do. The youth define the majority of the planet’s population and our idea and movements are valuable. As youth, we often assume that we have no power. However, as the most educated generation and one of the more innovative generations, our abilities to overcome these barriers transcends our age. Nadya Okamoto realized that homeless women are disadvantaged due to their lack of feminine resources, and launched the non-profit organization PERIOD when she was 16.  We are accountable for being the change rather than waiting for it to happen. We are the #FriendshipGeneration, and we can build bridges, not walls.

Nadya Okamoto, Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD

Dr. Malvika Iyer, Bomb blast survivor, “Nari Shakti” National Awardee, Disability Rights Activist

By Tareen Haque:

Throughout January, I took my first steps as the 2019 CUNY Youth Ambassador by researching and reading about the position and responsibilities. I was able to learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the previous GEM Youth Reports. As I was reading the reports, I was amazed at everything. Throughout my entire life, education was always a guarantee for me. I grew up knowing that not getting a bachelor’s degree was not an option, because my parents taught me the value of education since I was young. As the child of two immigrants who didn’t have a college degree, I’ve seen my parents continuously struggle to make ends meet through various jobs. My mother constantly taught me that getting a job with a bachelor’s degree was necessary to make sure I was financially stable. I never challenged this notion because I knew deep down that my mother truly didn’t want me to live like her and my father. Yet as I grew up, I’ve heard numerous jokes about people wanting to drop out of school because of the workload.  During a conversation with my mother, I repeated the joke to her, only to see that my mother had given me a stern look. As she angrily told me about her hardships throughout her life without an education, it dawned on me that many of the people in my school took the right to an education for granted. They constantly complained of the stress and how boring they found the classes, but never seemed to appreciate the fact that they even had the opportunity to learn. While reading the GEM reports, I realized that I too was taking my education for granted. I also became overwhelmed with the stress and began complaining of all the work I was getting. Learning of the #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa reminded me of how lucky I was to even be attending a college, nonetheless for free. I never understood how fortunate I was to even have the opportunity to learn about the world. I hope that through my role as the CUNY Youth Ambassador and my signature project, I can bring people to appreciate education again, even if education is not presented in the typical humanities or STEM fields.