As the first blog since our appointment as this year’s group of UNICEF NZ Youth Ambassadors, I hope we can be warmly welcomed in our roles!
A question that’s already popped up quite often has been- ‘What do you do as a Youth Ambassador?’ So to start with, I thought it would be good to let you know exactly what our roles are.
To briefly sum it up, I’d like to think our role is to encourage more young New Zealanders to get involved with global issues, to support UNICEF’s campaigns and events, and to also bring a youth perspective to UNICEF NZ.
We kicked off the year with a training workshop that was held in Wellington in late January. It was a great chance to meet with the other Youth Ambassadors and learn a lot about UNICEF.
Besides being blown around by Wellington’s ever menacing winds, the weekend made a good introduction to what we have in store for the year ahead.
We brainstormed issues that we’d like to focus on for the year, as well as the goals we have and what we’d like to achieve. We were able to outline some specific issues and events we’d like to emphasise during this year. Three of the main issues we’d like to focus on are the Rio+20 conference, the situation for children in the Pacific, and how to encourage more participation from young New Zealanders.
The Rio+20 conference that’s happening later this year in Brazil, is one issue that we want to put a big focus on. The theme of the conference is Sustainable Development and it will cover a range of issues like climate change and poverty that we’re keen to raise awareness about.
At the workshop we e were also able to learn a lot about the situation in the Pacific. It was really interesting to learn what’s happening in our neighbourhood of the globe. The situation of poverty and climate change in the Pacific is at a level which we believe calls for increased support and aid; so we discussed how we’d like to focus on particularly supporting the projects and campaigns in this region.
Another key activity for us will be making it more attractive and accessible for young people around the country to get involved by leading and initiating their own events. We know that despite interest in global issues, actually getting involved can sometimes be tricky in terms of knowing how and where to start.
We plan to hold many events so make sure you keep an eye out and get involved. We know just how much potential the young people of New Zealand have, and we can’t wait to work with you all!
Akane is 18 years old and hails from the Kapiti Coast. Akane is in her first year at Victoria University.
"I'm a UNICEF supporter, and I'd love you to join me."
Our year ahead as UNICEF NZs 2012 Youth Ambassadors – Akane Sandom
As the first blog since our appointment as this year’s group of UNICEF NZ Youth Ambassadors, I hope we can be warmly welcomed in our roles!
A question that’s already popped up quite often has been- ‘What do you do as a Youth Ambassador?’ So to start with, I thought it would be good to let you know exactly what our roles are.
To briefly sum it up, I’d like to think our role is to encourage more young New Zealanders to get involved with global issues, to support UNICEF’s campaigns and events, and to also bring a youth perspective to UNICEF NZ.
We kicked off the year with a training workshop that was held in Wellington in late January. It was a great chance to meet with the other Youth Ambassadors and learn a lot about UNICEF.
Besides being blown around by Wellington’s ever menacing winds, the weekend made a good introduction to what we have in store for the year ahead.
We brainstormed issues that we’d like to focus on for the year, as well as the goals we have and what we’d like to achieve. We were able to outline some specific issues and events we’d like to emphasise during this year. Three of the main issues we’d like to focus on are the Rio+20 conference, the situation for children in the Pacific, and how to encourage more participation from young New Zealanders.
The Rio+20 conference that’s happening later this year in Brazil, is one issue that we want to put a big focus on. The theme of the conference is Sustainable Development and it will cover a range of issues like climate change and poverty that we’re keen to raise awareness about.
At the workshop we e were also able to learn a lot about the situation in the Pacific. It was really interesting to learn what’s happening in our neighbourhood of the globe. The situation of poverty and climate change in the Pacific is at a level which we believe calls for increased support and aid; so we discussed how we’d like to focus on particularly supporting the projects and campaigns in this region.
Another key activity for us will be making it more attractive and accessible for young people around the country to get involved by leading and initiating their own events. We know that despite interest in global issues, actually getting involved can sometimes be tricky in terms of knowing how and where to start.
We plan to hold many events so make sure you keep an eye out and get involved. We know just how much potential the young people of New Zealand have, and we can’t wait to work with you all!