World’s Children Day 2024

On November 19, 2024, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) hosted a special panel discussion in celebration of World Children’s Day 2024, focusing on the theme Global Youth Voices for Children’s Rights and Empowerment. The event commemorated the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, bringing together young professionals and students dedicated to advancing children’s rights and fostering empowerment.

Cemre Ulker, JWF’s Representative to the United Nations Department of Global Communications, opened the floor with a warm welcome to the participants. Cemre Ulekr highlighted the importance of collective action, mentorship initiatives, and civil society programs to reimagine an equal and sustainable future for children. Cemre Ulker then introduced the event’s moderators, Zehra Ozdemir and Banu Uyanik, JWF’s Summer 2024 interns, and passed the floor to them to lead the discussion.

Zehra Ozdemir and Banu Uyanik began by expressing their excitement about moderating the event, emphasizing the importance of youth-led discussions on children’s rights and empowerment.

Zehra Ozdemir, a Political Science student at Georgia State University, brought her expertise in social justice, law, and her experiences as a researcher and advocate for human rights.

Banu Uyanik, a senior Political Science student at the University of Amsterdam, shared her commitment to quality education, integration programs for asylum-seeker students, and fostering youth-policy dialogue.

The moderators introduced a lineup of inspiring speakers from the USA, Netherlands, India, and Indonesia, who shared their perspectives and expertise. The discussions delved into critical areas such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), education, equality, sustainability, and the challenges faced by children worldwide.

The speakers highlighted innovative youth-led solutions and transformative actions that are shaping a more inclusive and equitable future for children. The event reinforced the importance of empowering youth as changemakers and fostering collaboration across sectors to protect children’s rights globally.

The first speaker was Mustafa Akar, a third-year student at the University of Maryland, majoring in Information Systems. Mustafa is deeply committed to mentorship, leadership, and community development, exemplified by his work with LeadUp Maryland, an organization he founded to empower underprivileged communities through youth-led initiatives.

In his presentation, Mustafa shared the history and impact of LeadUp Maryland:

• Founded in 2018, the organization now has over 90 youth volunteers across three states: Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
• Its mission is to empower vulnerable children, including orphans, refugees, and children with special needs, through local and global projects.

Impact Highlights

Since its inception, LeadUp Maryland has raised over $100,000 for various projects. Volunteers gain hands-on experience in project management, community outreach, and event coordination, fostering leadership skills and empathy. Cultural exchange remains a core value, with volunteers forming meaningful connections with global communities during projects in Kenya and Greece.

Future Goals

Mustafa outlined ambitious objectives for 2024-2025:

• $60,000 fundraising target, with funds allocated to local initiatives like the Make-A-Wish project and global efforts, including sponsoring educational expenses for 30 Kenyan high school students and supporting 38 refugee families in Greece with monthly housing expenses.
• Expanding LeadUp Maryland’s reach by encouraging the establishment of new branches across the United States and beyond.

Mustafa concluded his presentation by inviting participants to join LeadUp Maryland’s mission, emphasizing the transformative experiences it offers to both volunteers and beneficiaries. He encouraged attendees to connect via email or social media to explore collaboration opportunities.

The next speaker was Bera Turetken, a recent graduate from Brooklyn College with a degree in business management and marketing. Bera currently works as a digital marketing management trainee at L’Oréal, where he enhances data-driven experiences across brand websites. Beyond his professional career, Bera is actively involved in nonprofit organizations such as Youth Islands New York, Peace Islands New York, and the Journalist and Writers Foundation. His advocacy work centers around interfaith dialogue and fostering collaboration between diverse communities.

Bera spoke passionately about his role in advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). The theme of his presentation was “Youth-Led Interfaith Initiatives: Building Bridges and Empowering Future Leaders.”

He shared a glimpse into his life as an immigrant from the western region of Turkey, now residing in Brooklyn, New York. Reflecting on his journey, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be part of such initiatives. He revealed that his involvement with interfaith and youth dialogue began during high school when he joined a program called Young PeaceBuilders, which played a pivotal role in shaping his understanding of community engagement.

The Young PeaceBuilders Program, established in 2012, is a collaboration between the Turkish Cultural Center Brooklyn and Kings Bay Y, a Jewish community center in South Brooklyn. The program was created in response to the tragic Gaza flotilla raid of 2010, with a mission to foster understanding and respect between Jewish and Turkish Muslim communities. The initiative focuses on nurturing interfaith relationships, empowering young people with leadership skills, and promoting cultural awareness to build a more harmonious future.

Bera explained that while the program’s origin predates the formalization of the SDGs, its goals align with key targets such as reducing inequalities, ensuring quality education, and promoting peace and justice. The program operates annually, engaging high school students in activities from September to May. Highlights include ice-breaking events like barbecues, cultural exchanges, and workshops designed to develop public speaking and leadership skills.

Bera shared an illustrative schedule, emphasizing how the program integrates cultural and religious celebrations, such as a Hanukkah cooking class. Students from Jewish and Turkish backgrounds collaborated to prepare traditional dishes, fostering mutual respect and understanding. And he shared about the memorable events and initiatives a s following: 

1. Interfaith Dialogue and Cultural Exchange

The program features synagogue and mosque visits, offering participants firsthand experiences of different faiths and practices. Bera described a synagogue visit in Midwood, Brooklyn, where a Rabbi explained the Ten Commandments to attendees, enhancing their understanding of Jewish traditions.

2. Experiential Learning Trips

A two-day trip to Washington, D.C., focused on advocacy and education, exposed participants to the workings of Congress and lobbying in the United States. Students engaged in meaningful dialogues with representatives and learned about opportunities for internships in government roles. This trip also included visits to cultural landmarks such as museums, blending education with enjoyment.

3. Community Service and Humanitarian Efforts

The group partnered with Embrace Relief, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and disaster relief. Participants contributed to projects addressing poverty and inequality, experiencing the power of active citizenship and global engagement.

4. Ramadan Iftar Dinners

Ramadan iftar dinners were organized, bringing together Jewish and Muslim communities to share meals and discuss cultural traditions. These events highlighted similarities between the two faiths and created a space for deeper connections.

Bera emphasized the program’s core mission of building sustainable relationships and empowering youth to create a peaceful world. Through continuous engagement and feedback from students, the program evolves to meet the needs of its participants.

Concluding his presentation, he invited the audience to explore the program’s social media platforms for more information. He expressed gratitude to the Journalist and Writers Foundation for hosting the panel and reiterated the importance of interfaith initiatives in fostering a more equitable and harmonious society.

This heartfelt presentation served as a testament to the transformative power of youth-led interfaith initiatives in building bridges, promoting inclusivity, and preparing the next generation to lead with empathy and understanding.

The moderators then moved to introduce Gabriella Menayang, a dedicated volunteer from Indonesia and a driving force behind Love in the Streets, a nonprofit organization working to empower rural communities in Indonesia. Gabriella, deeply committed to issues such as education, sustainability, and human connection, took the stage to discuss her work with children in the rural village of Manura on Sumba Island. Her efforts focus on achieving SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Gabriella began by painting a vivid picture of Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands rich in diversity but rife with challenges. She shed light on the severe lack of access to basic amenities, particularly in rural areas like Manura, where children face insurmountable barriers to education.

She described the grim reality of children traveling over four hours on dangerous, rocky terrain just to attend school. Many families, understandably, chose not to risk these perilous journeys, leaving countless children without access to education and stifling their potential.

Empowering Manura Through Education

Gabriella recounted how the journey to empower Manura began with a simple yet profound mission: to make education accessible and sustainable. Partnering with local nonprofits and village leaders, her organization initiated the development of a combined education and medical center in Manura.

In her presentation, Gabriella shared photos and anecdotes from the project’s progression. She highlighted the innovative approaches employed to fundraise for the project, including marathons organized in Jakarta. While the urban team rallied for financial support, local teams on Sumba mobilized resources and manpower to construct the center.

By May 2021, the doors to the Sumba Education and Medical Center were opened. The facility provided children in Manura a safe, local space to learn, effectively eliminating the dangerous and exhausting commutes. Gabriella detailed how the center brought in trained teachers from urban areas who worked alongside local volunteers to create a nurturing, high-quality educational environment. Their curriculum adhered to national standards while fostering creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity.

Sustainability at the Core

Gabriella emphasized that the center’s success went beyond bricks and mortar. Sustainability was deeply embedded in the initiative, ensuring that the local community could take ownership of their children’s future. She shared how the collaborative efforts between the villagers, nonprofits, and volunteers established a robust system to maintain the center and keep the spirit of education alive.

A Call for Collective Responsibility

Closing her presentation, Gabriella posed two poignant questions to the audience:

1. How can we create more sustainable and accessible educational opportunities for rural children worldwide?
2. How can we ensure education is not a privilege but a universal right?

She stressed that education is a powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty, but the barriers rural children face go far beyond physical access to schools. Gabriella urged everyone to engage with communities, understand their needs, and co-create sustainable solutions.

She concluded with a heartfelt message: “You don’t need special qualifications to make a difference. Being human is qualification enough. Let us all contribute to empowering children within our own spheres of influence, because when we invest in education, we invest in the future of our planet.”

The final speaker was Prasiddhi Singh, a young environmentalist from India, founder of the Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, and a trailblazing advocate for climate action.

The moderator began by introducing Prasiddhi as an exceptional youth leader who had achieved remarkable milestones at a young age. At just 10 years old, Prasiddhi became the youngest social entrepreneur to receive the Prime Minister’s National Child Award in India. This prestigious award is the country’s highest civilian honor for children. The moderator also highlighted Prasiddhi’s significant contributions to environmental conservation, noting that she is known as “India’s Youngest Fruit Forest Creator” for her work in planting over 150,000 trees and establishing several micro forests. In addition to her environmental initiatives, she has been recognized globally as a rising star by the Earth Day Network and was awarded the Global Sustainability Award in 2021.

The moderator emphasized Prasiddhi’s commitment to spreading awareness about climate action by mobilizing a community of over 80,000 “Echo Warriors” through more than 1,000 workshops across the world. The moderator then handed over the stage to Prasiddhi, saying, “Today, she will talk about how children are making a positive difference in the world, with a focus on Sustainable Development Goal 15, ‘Life on Land.’”

Prasiddhi began by greeting the audience and she was live from COP 29 in Baku. She introduced herself as a 12-year-old climate advocate and the youngest head of delegation at COP 29. She founded Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, an NGO focused on nature-based solutions such as indigenous tree plantation, lake restoration, agroforestry, mangrove plantation, and other community-driven projects. Prasiddhi also founded The Green Pillar, a social enterprise focused on climate education for youth. Her initiative designs climate courses in collaboration with ocean biologists and sustainability specialists, which are hosted on a unique learning management platform.

Prasiddhi shared the inspiring statistics of her efforts—having planted 150,000 trees across 107 locations and mobilized 880,000 people in 20 countries. She emphasized that she had been in the climate space for over eight years, starting her journey at the age of four, driven by a deep love for nature.

Prasiddhi then shared the story of how her environmental activism began. Growing up in Tamil Nadu, a coastal state in India prone to cyclones and natural disasters, she experienced firsthand the devastation caused by climate change. When Cyclone Vardah struck in 2016, uprooting trees and flooding roads, Prasiddhi, who considered trees to be her friends, felt deeply disheartened by the loss of nature. This event sparked her determination to take real climate action.

At the age of six, Prasiddhi founded Prasiddhi Forest Foundation with the mission to heal the Earth. Her early efforts involved participating in tree plantation drives, learning from experts, and understanding the importance of indigenous tree species over monoculture plantations. Through her foundation, she has empowered rural communities, schools, and marginalized groups to plant trees, restore ecosystems, and become more climate-resilient.

Prasiddhi also spoke about the launch of The Green Pillar, which focuses on educating young people about climate change. Through collaboration with global experts, the initiative provides climate education courses to engage youth in environmental conservation.

Key Messages:

Prasiddhi emphasized the importance of hope and resilience in the fight against climate change. As the world faces unprecedented climate crises, she encouraged young people to view these challenges as opportunities to take action rather than as sources of eco-anxiety. She stressed the enormous potential of youth, with reports from the UN suggesting that by 2030, the youth population will number 1.3 billion—a powerful force capable of driving exponential change if harnessed properly.

Prasiddhi also shared her perspective on climate change, biodiversity, and human well-being. She outlined three critical challenges facing the world: mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring human well-being. Despite the grim projections, such as the loss of coral reefs, plastic overtaking fish in the sea, and the destruction of rainforests by 2100, she remained hopeful that real change could happen if people acted together.

She shared her personal belief that everything in nature is interconnected, and that the solutions to climate change also need to be interconnected. She pointed out how the melting glaciers in Antarctica affect global sea levels and how deforestation impacts ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide. She spoke about the importance of building partnerships, drawing inspiration from nature itself, where she learned about collaboration and interconnectedness from watching bees pollinate flowers.

The Role of Youth:

Prasiddhi emphasized that the real hope lies in children and young people. She said that the power of imagination and energy that youth possess could drive positive change. She encouraged her peers to not only think outside the box but to act outside of it as well. She urged the audience to channel their energy, creativity, and ideas into meaningful action for the planet.

She also highlighted the importance of using tools like social media and smartphones to spread awareness. Through platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter), young people can connect, mobilize, and inspire others to join the movement for climate action.

Call to Action:

In her closing remarks, Prasiddhi challenged the audience to reflect on their first drawing, which for many of us was of a tree, flower, or rainbow—symbols of our deep connection with nature. She urged everyone to remember that nature is not something separate from us, but the foundation of our future. She called for unity and collaboration to protect the planet, as losing biodiversity would have dire consequences for both nature and human well-being.

She concluded with a motivational statement: “Don’t just think outside the box, act outside the box. Dream high, higher than the sky. Think deep, deeper than the ocean. And act like trees, be like seas.”

The event concluded with an engaging Q&A session, where speakers addressed various insightful questions from the audience. Overall, the session was highly interactive and engaging, fostering meaningful discussions on global development and youth leadership.