#wfuna

A dialogue between civil society representatives and the UN Security Council President for April, Ambassador H.E. Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations. Hosted by WFUNA. 

WFUNA Interviews Young Leader of 2018: Andrea Calzada Morales from UNA Mexico

Q: Please tell us a little bit about yourself! 

My name is Andrea. I currently live in a region of the Zacatecas desert. I have always been a restless person, even as a child. My favorite pastime was playing soccer with my sister.

I had a good childhood and by age 8, I was already in love with soccer. I did not want to play anything else. Thanks to soccer, I discovered that you could achieve incredible things, meet other people, create bonds of friendship and most importantly: Learn to be supportive with people on and off the pitch. Sometimes life is put to the test and the most important loss of my life was the death of my father when I was only eight years old. I am very grateful that I have such a hard working mother who set a strong a example for me.

Q: What inspired you to start working towards gender equality?

My interest in working on gender equality was influenced by two aspects, the first part to this was because I was discriminated against when I wanted to do things that were considered "for men"; When I was in elementary school I always asked my PE teacher to let me play soccer with the other boys, but usually she said " soccer is for boys and basketball is for girls", I did not have many options and I started playing. People at my school also always made fun of me for having some soccer shoes that only children can use.

It has not been easy to try to change the important thing is to remember the reason why we committed to change our environment.

Q: What are your goals with this work? What do you hope to achieve during your time as WFUNA Young Leader?

I have several goals that I would like to fulfill as WFUNA Young Leader, one of them is to promote gender equality (SDG5) in Zacatecas, Mexico and the World. For me, the development of my state is a big priority. In Mexico, being a woman is doubly difficult due to the high levels of violence against females

Ideally, my goal is to achieve a just society where both women and men have the same quality of life, women can be leaders, participate in political decisions of the country, and the main thing being that we are not violated in any way. I would also like to be able to establish a system that helps to develop life skills through sports and then replicate that globally. This would generate more opportunities for women and hopefully improve their quality of life.

It has been amazing and humbling to serve as the WFUNA Young Leader of 2016. My gratitude extends to the WFUNA Secretariat, young people of all UNAs and UNYAs across the world, UNA –Zimbabwe for nominating me, Thekwini City Colleges for their open-door policy in partnerships, Junior Chamber International (JCI) South Africa, Court Vision International, Self-Aware Youth Club, and many other partners. The position enabled me to gain regional and international exposure but above everything else, illuminate the world through leading young people to be responsible and accountable actors in shaping the world we want by 2030.

Some of the notable milestones during my tenure of office are as follows:

2017 (Year for SDG 16 and 5)

Launch of the Annual Inter-colleges Sports for Peace Tournament on the 21st of September every year to commemorate the lnternational Day of Peace. Currently, preparations are now at an advanced stage for the second edition of this tournament, scheduled to be held at Westenburg Community grounds in Polokwane, South Africa on the same date.

Launched Project I Pad which is aimed at giving disadvantaged girls peace of mind through men's support of their menstrual health. The program educates men about the importance of supporting all women: our sisters, mothers, friends, and among others. Every month we bring together sanitary pads that we acquire as a way of showing commitment to the cause and give to disadvantaged girls. So far 350 girls mostly from rural areas have benefited directly from this initiative since its launch.

Partnered with Self Aware Youth Club based in Polokwane Rural areas to host the Annual Miss Self Aware Beauty Pageant from 2017 onwards. This is a project aims to empower girls in rural areas around Polokwane to develop a positive self-image and be able to fearlessly stand up for rights in their communities. This year, the pageant is schedule for December in the other part rural part of Polokwane as a way of giving a chance to all girls in rural areas of Limpopo Province in South Africa.

Launched the Peace Always Campaign, an initiative that is aimed at helping Young People show their commitment to peaceful actions. As a promise to continuously display their commitments, young people signed their names in a Peace Pledge Declaration book. The book at the moment has more than one thousand signatures of young people from different backgrounds, nationalities and gender.

Supported a rural community basketball team in Jozini, KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa with technical and financial support. In collaboration with Court Vision International (https://www.courtvisionconnect.com/), the project was aimed at supporting Young People to get out of drugs and positively channel their energy towards self and community development.

  2018 (Year of ensuring Quality Education - SDG 4):

1. Smart Learning Campaign: In partnership with Thekwini City Colleges in South Africa, we are running a program of providing seven-inch customized tablets to newly registered students especially those studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). This is a way of encouraging Young People to venture into this field of STEM, which is one of the central keys in the sustainable development of Africa. Through this program the number of girls registering, especially for engineering courses with the college campuses across the country, has doubled. Thus, this initiative did not only see a positive achievement for SDG 4 but also SDG 5. This is a five-year program running until 2022.

2. Launch of the Nelson Mandela Public Management and Education Bursary under the Bernard Sihlezi Bebe Foundation (https://www.facebook.com/Bernard-Sihlezi-Bebe-Foundation-418770161579994/). At the moment, this bursary mostly covers the costs for textbooks and mentors for students who qualify for financial aid. These students study Public Management and Education across TVET colleges in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The program aims to inspire students to help Public Officials and Educators strengthen the next generation of global citizens. Nelson Mandela’s values, which are peace and reconciliation, selflessness and service to humanity are central to the program’s mission and vision.

Honoured the 67 Minutes of Volunteerism of the Nelson Mandela Day 2018 by vanishing 100 desks at one of the Campuses of Thekwini City College in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Raised awareness among Thekwini City College students about the Global Youth Service Day and conducted a cleanup at one of their campuses and offered them certificates of participation in partnership with Youth Service America (https://ysa.org/ ).This event was well published in two local newspapers (https://reviewonline.co.za/262370/foundation-set-to-better-lives/).

Formulated an online petition and sent letters to the Clerk of Parliament and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC). This petition was aimed at discouraging the use of Hate Speech during the era of political campaigns in the recently held elections in Zimbabwe. After 2 weeks of petitioning, the NPRC came up with a Peace Pledge which was signed by all 23 Political Party Representatives who were contesting in these corresponding elections in Zimbabwe. (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1303852599717513&id=304646782971438).

Also created a peace video in partnership with an upcoming comedian in Zimbabwe. We made the video during the elections campaign period in Zimbabwe. It was aimed at discouraging Young People from indulging themselves in any form of electoral violence. The video was circulated on social media sites, such as Whatsapp and Facebook. (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1705929242859103&id=1262085897243442)

My service to humanity will not end with my term of service as the WFUNA Young Leader of 2016, but rather a lifetime commitment. Looking forward to cordial working relations with the incoming WFUNA Young Leader of 2018. Once again, thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual celebration of young volunteers around the world led by Youth Service America (YSA). It is designed to encourage youth to participate in community service and service-learning and to honor those who have contributed to their communities through voluntary commitment. GYSD is usually observed on a weekend in April, beginning on Friday and ending on Sunday and this year it was from 20 – 22 April.

To mark this day, we started off by raising awareness of this global day and the SDGs among some tertiary level students in Polokwane, South Africa. These students are doing diverse courses in the field of Engineering and Business studies. He went on further to coordinate a cleanup of lecture rooms and restrooms of Thekwini City College Polokwane Campus with some student volunteers from this institution. This initiative partially covered the aspect of SDG 6 which involves sanitation.

By Bernard Bebe, WFUNA Young Leader of 2016

We Play Together For Peace

We celebrated International Day of Sport for Development and Peace at Jozini Stadium here in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. I chose it because it is a rural area and the SDGs command us to Leave No One Behind.

Participants were local children and youths from the area, ranging from 6 years to 30 years old. We had a boys versus girls netball and also volleyball tournament. The Theme for the day was "We Play Together for Peace." More than 40 youths participated in the games and others more supported us.

Happy International Day of Sport for Development and Peace!

Peace is Possible

In February this year, l was invited by Junior Chamber International (JCI), Tswane Chapter, South Africa to one of their member's monthly meetings. My role at the meeting was to speak about my peace projects with UNA- Zimbabwe and the award l won as the WFUNA Young Leader of the Year 2016 working on SDG 16.

After my presentation, JCI Tswane, South Africa asked for my technical expertise in the field of Peace towards supporting their lnternational Peace Campaign titled "Peace is Possible" and if possible foster a regional partnership as a way of complementing our efforts in creating a peaceful world by 2030. After all details are sorted out the two organisations (UNA-Zimbabwe and JCI Tswane, South Africa ) will sign an MOU (SDG 17) towards implementing Peace Projects.

      {UNA Georgetown Law at the podium of the UN General Assembly}

On Friday February 17th 2017, team members of the United Nations Association – Georgetown Law (UNAGL) had the opportunity to actively take part in UNA-USA Members’ Day and visit the UN headquarters in NYC. All throughout the day, we had the privilege of sitting down in the General Assembly, connecting with delegations of other UN associations from all over the country and discussing the role of the United States within the organization with high-level UN officials and ambassadors, as well as reflecting on the current trends that will shape the UN and its mission throughout the following years such as sustainable development, displacement, conflict prevention, and the role of youth.