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The voices of young people were heard loud and clear during the United Nations General Assembly – thanks to sa国际传媒鈥檚 Global Youth Ambassadors.

Every year, 1,000 new young people aged 18 to 30, who are passionate about ending the education crisis, become enrolled to receive training on education advocacy. To date, almost 10,000 young ambassadors from all over the world have been through the two-year programme.

sa国际传媒鈥檚 training gives the youth advocates the skills, knowledge and community to unlock big change at a local and global level. That means giving them the opportunity to advocate in their own communities and on a world stage.

That鈥檚 exactly what happened when several of our Global Youth Ambassadors travelled to New York during last month鈥檚 UN General Assembly.

Addressing country presidents, government ministers, UN agencies, early childhood networks and civil society, they gave inspirational speeches, shared stories of hope and learned new ways of speaking up for children.

Two of them played a key role at a UNICEF and sa国际传媒-hosted event to launch the countdown to the first-ever Global Early Years Finance Summit next year.

Kenzy Hisham Ismail, 24, from Egypt, and Laura Alejandra Morales, 28, from Colombia, represented a working group of Global Youth Ambassadors called the Act For Early Years Youth Champions.

Act For Early Years is a global movement calling for quality childcare and education for all preschool-age children . The youth champions – who are all experts on children鈥檚 early years – are gathering ideas and insights for a Youth Vision Statement to be presented to world leaders ahead of the historic summit.

Kenzy said: 鈥淭hrough consultations in our communities, we are gathering young people’s perspectives of what’s needed for the world’s youngest children to create a Youth Vision Statement that we will present at the 2027 Global Early Years Finance Summit.鈥�

Laura told how consultations led by all 13 Act For Early Years Youth Champions in 13 different countries had revealed the same three wishes. She said these are 鈥渟afe neighbourhoods where children can play, schools built for every child and classrooms where a child’s culture and language are something to be proud of.鈥�

A busy few days of activities in New York began with a training event for some of the Global Youth Ambassadors. It included sessions on engaging with different stakeholders, setting goals for the week, team-building games and networking role-play activities.

Act For Early Years Youth Champions then hosted a Youth Vision Consultation event, attended by current and graduate GYAs and youth delegates from the Global Partnership for Education.

Global Youth Ambassadors also helped launch the second edition of鈥疶he Education Issue,鈥痑 print and online newspaper spotlighting the education challenges, innovations and opportunities in communities around the world, at sa国际传媒鈥檚 Education Builds Tomorrow event, where they networked with decision-makers, donors and business leaders.

The Education Issue carries articles and a video report by Global Youth Ambassadors about education issues in their communities – such as teaching children with disabilities in Kenya, mentoring young people living with HIV in Nepal and helping migrants access education in the United Kingdom.

At the event, GYA Carolina Riera said: 鈥淭hrough taking part in The Education Issue project, I learned about the power that solutions-based storytelling can have, in spreading positive and inspiring stories.鈥� Her article is about the barriers faced by indigenous children in accessing education.