This month, we launched our fifth annual ONE Youth Ambassador programme across Europe. These young activists came together in Rome, Paris, Berlin, London, Dublin, the Hague and Brussels to learn new skills, campaign on our issues and, of course, change the world!
Over their launch weekends, Youth Ambassadors attended meetings with members of parliament, received media training, collected signatures on ONE’s open letter, sent hundreds of tweets, and have since been featured in dozens of online and print publications around Europe!
UK
What a fantastic two days with such a wonderful group of young people…our 2018 Youth Ambassadors! 💪🏾🔥💃🏼❤️🎉🙌🏻 #ONEyouth18 pic.twitter.com/FpMgMq9eBp
— ONE UK (@ONEintheUK) March 6, 2018
Our UK team hosted their 2018 Youth Ambassadors in the London office, where they were trained on all things advocacy, media and campaigning! As well as getting the low-down from members of the UK team, the YAs heard some insightful talks from a DFID staff member and a journalist from The Metro. On the last day of their training, the Youth Ambassadors participated in a ONE event hosted in Parliament ahead of International Women’s Day, which celebrated ‘6 inspirational international women’ doing incredible work every day to tackle gender inequality around the world. They also used their new skills to convince members of the public that #PovertyIsSexist and successfully signed up over 200 new members through the open letter!
FRANCE
En cette #JournéeDesDroitsDesFemmes 💪 les jeunes Ambassadeurs de ONE ont un message pour vous ! Agissez sur https://t.co/UMFxl8LLep ✊ #PauvretéSexiste #8mars #IWD2018 #ONEYouth18 pic.twitter.com/iWe1z1rwkm
— ONE France (@ONE_Fr) March 8, 2018
Team France organised a 3-day launch where our YAs got to learn about Emmanuel Macron’s commitments and development policy, ODA work in France and our flagship campaign, Poverty is Sexist. They met with Hugues Renson, a MP from ‘La Republique en Marche’ (Macron’s party), the Vice President of the National Assembly, and Charles Tellier, Head of the Crises, Conflict and Vulnerabilities unit at the French development agency. The YAs also created some amazing digital content for the Poverty is Sexist campaign, like this video that was broadcasted onto a giant screen at a stadium in Reims before a football match:
GERMANY
KICK-OFF completed successfully, now it's time to act! Politicians and Media beware: @ONEDeutschland is coming!#ONEYouth18 pic.twitter.com/35niB69f33
— Nataly Stimpel (@NatalyStimpel96) March 10, 2018
Our 2018 group of German YAs are great (all 60 of them)! They are dedicated, diverse in background, come from across the country and most importantly: they are fired up and ready to go! During the launch in Germany, the YAs received training on ONE’s issues and prepared for advocacy meetings. They also joined a women’s rights rally, dropped off and handed our open letter to various German politicians (and the Canadian Embassy to Germany), and met with Germany’s Minister for Development, Gerd Müller, and Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner!
NETHERLANDS
Onze Jeugdambassadeurs hebben het winkelend publiek in Den Haag gevraagd onze brief voor te lezen – check het resultaat en teken ook! https://t.co/C5iLcohIds #ONEYouth18 #IWD2018 #InternationaleVrouwendag2018 pic.twitter.com/CCHJrfuQVg
— ONE in Nederland (@ONENederland) March 8, 2018
The Dutch Youth Ambassador launch included workshops about the work ONE does and how to pitch a campaign. During a fun competition, the Dutch YAs created a great video featuring our open letter! The YAs also attended the Multi-Party Initiative Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV/AIDS launch and had lobby meetings with Anne Kuik from CDA and Isabelle Diks from GroenLinks.
ITALY
The energy of the #ONEYouth18 in Italy is already becoming contagious! Watch out for their activities in the fight against extreme poverty ⚡️🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/9qJoWxdPuU
— ONE in Italia (@ONEinItalia) March 7, 2018
Team Italy launched their 2018 YA programme with training, team building activities and brainstorming sessions for YAs to get ready for the year ahead. They learnt all about our Poverty is Sexist campaign motivating them to brainstorm ideas on how to fight extreme poverty and advocate for women’s economic empowerment. They also met with Emilio Ciarlo from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation who gave great advice on how to talk about international development in Italy. Then, Youth Ambassadors hit the streets of Rome – walking from the Colosseum to the Pantheon – collecting signatures on our open letter and raising awareness on women’s economic empowerment.
BRUSSELS
There is nowhere on earth where women have more opportunities than men and we won’t stand for it. Join #ONEYouth18 and be part of the movement → https://t.co/1soHdJDNKs #PovertyIsSexist #IWD2018 pic.twitter.com/7sytuFHSY1
— ONEinEU (@ONEinEU) March 8, 2018
50 Youth Ambassadors (representing 18 EU countries, plus Cameroon and Serbia!) joined Brussels’ annual feminist march and hit the streets to take part in a Poverty is Sexist treasure hunt where they filmed videos and informed the public about our campaigns. They also learned all about EU aid, how to lobby effectively, and why social media is essential to campaigning.
IRELAND
Thank you @campaignforleo for meeting with our Irish Youth Ambassadors. Together, we can fight extreme poverty around the world.#ONEyouth18 pic.twitter.com/Vga8Y1uIj4
— ONE Ireland (@ONEinIreland) April 13, 2018
25 Youth Ambassadors gathered in Dublin for an exciting launch that included trainings on how to be a great campaigner and use social media effectively. They were invited to the Government Buildings where they met with the Taoiseach, or Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar — a very exciting moment for the Youth Ambassadors — and even got a tour of the building! They also hit the streets to bring awareness to our Poverty is Sexist campaign.
