ONE Direction to Ending Poverty

ELEANOR BATILLIET SHARES THE SUCCESS OF ONE’S 2016 YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME

Recently, I was selected to be part of The ONE Campaign’s prestigious Youth Ambassador Programme. The programme was newly launched by Mhairi Black MP for the Scottish Nationalist Party, our youngest MP, who has been a long-term ONE supporter since the age of 14. ONE is an organisation dedicated to ending the injustice of extreme poverty and preventable diseases, especially in Africa, with more than 7 million people taking action through the campaigning and advocacy organisation. (For more information for to ONE.org).

The Youth Ambassador Programme that Eleanor has been select to join is creating a dedicated team of volunteers. Through an open application process the volunteers are chosen and will then work to raise the profile of ONE campaigns on and off campus, through local event, and online.

Fifty young people from across the UK were chosen to participate in the year-long scheme—campaigning on nutrition, HIV/AIDS, transparency, women & girls, and overseas aid. These young people will be organising events, lobbying their MPs and getting their stories heard in the media. They will join a team of 300 ONE Youth Ambassadors from across Europe.

ONE will be harnessing the power of the Youth Ambassadors up and down the county in asking politicians to keep aid promises, secure new agreements on financial transparency, and deliver ambitious new funding for global health and nutrition.

2016 will see a number of global summits affecting the world’s poorest people in the most disadvantaged areas. The Youth Ambassadors will campaign around the Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May, the second Nutrition for Growth Summit in Rio in August, and a replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the autumn.

The Youth Ambassadors gathered in London a month ago for training on campaigning, using social media and working with the press. Mhairi Black, the youngest MP for at least 184 years, and a ONE supporter since the age of 14, spoke to the Youth Ambassadors at the launch:

“As a teenager, The ONE Campaign motivated me to become an activist and showed me how important it is to use your voice to create real change. ONE’s Youth Ambassadors prove that young people are engaged in global issues and the programme gives them an opportunity to really make a difference, pushing for a brighter future for people all over the world.

“The UK is a world leader in international development, and the Youth Ambassadors can help make sure it stays that way through their activism this year. I look forward to seeing their great work.”

Diane Sheard, UK Director of ONE said that “the calibre of ONE Youth Ambassadors is again impressive this year and we are excited to have them on our side as we fight against extreme poverty. With international summits on anti-corruption, health and nutrition in 2016, world leaders are facing their first test of the Global Goals promises they made last year. ONE’s Youth Ambassadors will be holding leaders to account for these promises. Their passion for campaigning is a force to be reckoned with.”

Last year, the UK’s Youth Ambassadors helped to persuade 53% of all MPs (some 346) to sign the ‘Just Say Yes’ pledge after the 2015 election, promising to keep the UK’s promises to the world’s poorest and work to end extreme poverty by 2030. They also lobbied G7 leaders in Munich and raised their voices in support of the new UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

So? Watch this space. Eleanor is getting involved and not being left behind. For more information on the achievements of this year’s campaign please contact Zainab Ali Khan on 07584 470 644 or 020 7434 7554 or email zainab.alikhan@one.org. For more information on the ‘Just Say Yes’ pledge, go to ONE.org/justsayyes.