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Main image: Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao
Marking World Children’s Day (20 November), the third edition of the Young Activists Summit, #YAS21, will give young people from around the planet a platform to connect and take action for the environment and their rights.
The event will be held at the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland) and online for a global audience.
The summit, entitled ‘New Generation, New Solutions’, will honour six outstanding young people who have driven concrete change for their communities and the environment:
They will be attending the Summit in person in Geneva, except from Lual Mayen who will participate remotely.
The 2021 laureates demonstrate that young people have the power to shape a sustainable and equal world.
They will be awarded prizes for their remarkable achievements during the Official Summit, which will be moderated by RTS journalist Tania Chytil.
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) special envoy and American actress Angelina Jolie will address the #YAS21 participants and laureates via a video message to support them.
‘What I know is that young people have less fear, you are more fearless. And it’s not reckless to be fearless. Because fear is used most often to control people, to set us against each other, to find excuses for inaction. (…) Being able to see through this is a strength that you must hold on to.’
ANGELINA JOLIE
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) special envoy and American actress
UN top officials will also take part: UN Geneva director-general Tatiana Valovaya, UN under-secretary-general for global communications Melissa Fleming, UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet, UNESCO-International Bureau of Education director Yao Ydo and Edward Kwakwa, assistant director-general for Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Summit will invite the audience to take concrete actions to advance the activists’ causes and the children’s rights they promote.
Trees will be planted on all five continents to reward the participants who will submit the first 2,000 pledges. As of 10 November 2021, people from 111 countries had already registered to take part in the Summit.
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