Despite a global pandemic, widespread environmental destruction and economic uncertainty, young people’s unrelenting efforts to lead the world to a better tomorrow has kept us going.
But it’s been tough. As 2020 draws to an end, we want to thank everyone who has worked with us in building a just and sustainable world. We want to thank the young leaders that have shown us how to make change happen. We want to thank our donors and supporters who allow us to keep supporting young leaders on their journeys. And we want to thank our staff who make us who we are.
Together, we have overcome many challenges that 2020 put in front of us and together we look towards 2021, with still greater optimism and determination.
But before moving forward, here are some inspiring stories from 2020.
Youth Power in Action
12 young leaders from across the world committed to leading youth-led action to get the Global Goals delivered. When COVID hit, the Youth Power panel connected young people through the Youth Power Solidarity calls, they took action on the Global Goals and held decision makers accountable.
In India, Shishu used his research to advocate for sexual and reproductive rights. Since COVID 19, he has pivoted his research skills to focus on distribution of food and healthcare for those affected by the pandemic.
In Zimbabwe, Nyasha and a group of 20 young leaders began door-to-door campaigns to raise awareness about COVID-19 and help communities stop the spread.
In Uganda, Fiona established a call centre to provide support to those suffering from the upsurge in gender-based and domestic violence as a result of lockdowns.
In Tanzania, Ramlat established a small enterprise making face masks to protect her community from the virus and its financial repercussions.
In Sierra Leone, we supported young volunteers like Halimatu to reach 175,000 people across all districts to help them access healthcare services, create safe spaces for young out-of-school girls, and collect data to prevent the further spread of the virus.
12 young researchers created the Resilient Realities report, showing the incredible efforts and huge challenges faced by youth civil society in fighting COVID 19, inequality and injustice.
Triathletes couldn’t be deterred by a global pandemic. Despite our annual in-school fundraising event being cancelled, young people across the UK (and elsewhere for the first time) raised funds to support young leaders by virtually travelling the world in the first #TriThisAtHome challenge.
35 young volunteers led humanitarian action for COVID 19 and supported over 100,000 people affected by the humanitarian crisis.
In the UK, young leaders launched Youth Against Misinformation to tackle the spread of fake news about COVID 19 on social media. Through their Failure to Act report, they urged social media giants to crack down on fake news that was damaging efforts to control the virus.
12 young researchers from Sahel, Horn of Africa and MENA regions collaborated to launch “Youth Principles” to search for ways to help young people cope with disruptions to their education and work as a result of COVID 19.
Young researchers in Iraq, Lebanon, Madagascar and Uganda released Shifting the Power, a research series on strengthening youth civil society organisations and making it financially sustainable. Part of the Development Alternative.
We joined Count Us In, an initiative dedicated to inspiring 1 billion people to take practical action to reduce their carbon footprint and supporting young people to take the lead in solving the climate crisis.
2021. A year of progress. A year for #YouthPower.
For 2021, we envision more collaboration through the Youth Collective to help strengthen youth-led civil society; more community-led solutions, and more #YouthPower, starting with the Youth Power Hacks.
We’ll see you in 2021.
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