How Youth Advocacy Program Works
Education Above All believes youth are positive agents of sustainable change. The Youth Advocacy Program (YAP) mobilizes and empowers young people as key agents in finding solutions and bringing positive change to the world – with skills and platforms to advocate for the right to education. The active vehicle of youth advocacy provides ample input and perspectives in raising awareness and efforts to ensure education is adaptable, accessible, protected and a tool in strengthening resilience and empowerment.
YAP scope of engagement is broad and has included global forums, field workshops for transferring knowledge, campaigns, dissemination of information, research and more.
Engagement
The first stepping stone to the EAA Youth Advocacy Program (YAP):
YAP induction training workshops, which took place in Doha, involving all 20 new Youth Advocates!
Modes of engagement include:
Field trips:
Youth Advocates conducted and facilitated workshops in two seperate missions in Uganda: the first workshop in partnership with Artolution at Bidi bidi refugee settlement, and the second with Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Gulu. Key focus of the workshops was on essential values of global citizenship such as respect for diversity – in religion, ethnicity, language, gender, disability status, socio-economic status, and opinions – peacebuilding and human rights, including the right to education, as fundamental and enabling values for achieving sustainable peace and UN global goals on both local, regional and global level.
Global Advocacy Events:
Youth Advocates participated in multiple global events in the US, including the high-level Georgetown University Seminar in Washington, all EAA-UNGA events, and the SDG Action Zone
Our Youth Advocate, Oweis, participated in the Geneva Social Forum, while Alya participated at the Paris Peace Forum.
Local discourse and dialogue:
Right to Education campaign: Youth advocates participated in two highlight events of the local Right to Education campaign, a local campaign co-led by EAA, UNESCO GCC, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NHRC. These two events namely were, Youth Talk Ed and What She Said.
Youth Advocates Anood and Hamideh participated at the Doha Forum Youth Edition, respectively as a panellist and as a moderator
Youth Advocates were also heavily involved in WISE (including in Doha Learning Days, WISE EAA Village and Plenary sessions).
Youth Advocates also partook in Generation Amazing Festival 2019 and the Doha Forum 2019
Creative mediums of advocacy:
EAA Youth Advocates also have a key role and responsibility in the curation and execution of different events: especially those in relation to EAA’s edvocate campaign
January 2020: the inaugural event of edvOcate, in celebration of the International Day of Education. EAA YAs led the second episode of Youth Talk Ed, which hosted a substantial discussion on the holistic approach to the right to education. It also hosted the first-ever youth-led EAA art display, by EAA Youth Advocates Talia, Rodrigo and Asna. Furthermore, this YAP-curated event showcased different publications made by Youth Advocates in their own personal capacities.
Qatar Youth Forum: an interactive, youth-led information booth, led by EAA Youth
EAA @ National Sports Day: The inaugural event of edvocate’s sports stream, led by YAs, saw a fruitful collaboration with Qatar Stars League ambassadors and players; allowing for wide-reaching, nontraditional medium of sports to be used as a platform of advocacy and awareness-raising.
August 04, 2024
