Cynthia Yue, the U.S. Youth Observer to the United Nations, has spent her time period connecting native communities to the worldwide targets. photograph: Greg Kahn.
As U.S. Youth Observer to the United Nations, Cynthia Yue has spent the previous 12 months talking with youthful people throughout America about what issues most to them — and the method members of expertise Z can harness their unprecedented power to do good.
From psychological well being and local climate movement to social justice and innovation, she shares a pair of of primarily the most memorable encounters and experiences from her time period, and the method the nation’s youths are re-imagining their futures using the Sustainable enchancment targets as a blueprint for native movement.
My grandfather was the oldest of six youngsters in a rustic torn aside by poverty and hunger. by the purpose he turned thirteen, he’d watched every thought-about one of his youthful siblings die from preventable causes. As a major-expertise American, I grew up listening to tales of all of the atrocities that plagued my household by way of the years, and the method humanitarian companies like UNICEF helped their communities survive.
It’s why my ardour for the United Nations is a private one — and why i made a selection to use to be the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN. I grew up in rural Tennessee, the place seeing native factors by way of a worldwide lens is usually a problem for masses of. I wished to obtain youthful people who may not know what the UN does, what the Sustainable enchancment targets (SDGs) are, or why they matter. although they every symbolize distinct targets, the 17 SDGs are interconnected as a outcome of poverty, inequality, hunger, illness, and completely different factors all intersect. for event, good well being and properly-being — SDG three, for event — impacts our progress on all of the worldwide targets.
The group I symbolize, the United Nations affiliation of the USA (UNA-USA), predates the United Nations. World peace advocates launched the group after World battle II with assist from leaders collectively with Eleanor Roosevelt to champion the idea that we may cease world destruction and disaster by creating the UN. Since then, it has developed to vary into our nation’s largest grassroots movement in assist of the UN’s mission. yearly, over 20,000 supporters come collectively on behalf of the UN and the worldwide work being accomplished throughout the SDGs. We journey to Capitol Hill from all 50 states to converse with our nation’s leaders and lawmakers. We foyer for humanitarian staff and the households they serve. We elevate our voices as a outcome of all of us know that assist for the UN comes from people all by way of the place, from coast to coast and the heartland of the usa.
Cynthia acknowledges that not all people is aware of with regard to the United Nations or the Sustainable enchancment targets. a part of her mission as U.S. Youth Observer was to join youthful people throughout the nation with these world ideas. photograph: Greg Kahn.
Listening to America’s Youth
on the core of every thing I wished to do in my time period was to be constructive that we had range, not simply in illustration however additionally in whom we reached out to and amplified. I wished to create areas for youthful people who’ve by no means had the prospect to take part on the UN to take movement on our world’s most pressing factors, collectively with the SDGs. to take movement, firstly of my time period, I hosted a listening tour to join with hundreds of youthful people throughout the nation. One story particularly that caught out to me bought here from a scholar from Iowa. He instructed me that, again in 2008, his hometown expert the worst flood in recorded historic previous. To at the present time, his neighborhood stays to be dealing with the aftermath — you ought to discover homes that have been damaged and rubble from buildings that have been destroyed but, what additionally bought here from that disaster was collective movement, a thread that connects all of the SDGs. It sparked a bunch of youthful people, collectively with that scholar, to rally collectively and push the mayor to undertake cleaner power practices (SDG 7), which helped rework their metropolis proper into a regional chief on local climate movement (SDG thirteen).
youthful people right this second have a singular skill to impact decision-makers in methods they’ve by no means been in a place to earlier than. expertise and social media are enhancing youth advocacy in extraordinary methods. Advocacy has masses power in numbers, and we now have the devices, power, and capabilities to create tangible adjustments simply by elevating our voices.
regardless of all of this progress, I’ve additionally seen and heard firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected my friends. there may even be this rising epidemic inside the usa — not simply with Gen Z, however with every expertise — of melancholy, anxiousness, and substance abuse. Suicide is little doubt thought-about one of many main causes of demise for people in my age group. On a neighborhood diploma, research have proven that youthful Asian American and Pacific Islanders like me are the least likely group to hunt assist for psychological well being and that AAPIs, basically, really feel an immense diploma of stigma inside our neighborhood regardless of typically experiencing an extreme quantity of intergenerational trauma. particularly given the rise in hate crimes in direction of AAPIs in latest occasions, psychological well being consciousness is more and more essential in our nation as a full and all by way of the AAPI neighborhood. With all of that in thoughts, i truly wished to deal with psychological well being all by way of my time period.
Cynthia and completely different youth leaders pose with President Joe Biden on the White dwelling for the major-ever psychological well being Youth movement discussion board in may 2022. photograph: Cynthia Yue.
After 10 years of working as a psychological well being advocate, i used to be honored to be invited to the White dwelling this 12 months as thought-about one of 30 youth leaders to fulfill with President Joe Biden, the major woman, Selena Gomez, and the U.S. Surgeon regular to share my story at its inaugural psychological well being Youth movement discussion board in partnership with MTV. This event marked the major time in our nation’s historic previous the place U.S. leaders united to acknowledge that psychological well being is a singular problem affecting youthful people inside the U.S. in unprecedented methods. furthermore, with a crew of completely different passionate youth advocates, I proposed a nationwide advertising campaign for psychological well being movement to private, public, and nonprofit companions throughout sectors to work in solidarity with various stakeholders throughout the U.S. Having the prospect to debate how psychological well being has personally affected me and others in my expertise was an empowering expertise that confirmed how our world’s leaders will not be solely listening to youthful voices however additionally transforming ideas into affect.
stopping for Social Justice Worldwide
all by way of my nationwide listening tour, youthful people shared how, inside the wake of the homicide of George Floyd, social justice is an monumental precedence inside the usa. but, many shared that they view social justice predominantly as a home difficulty. They didn’t see the worldwide connection to the worldwide movement for diminished inequalities and justice. to enhance the sustained movement for world solidarity in social justice, I based the Social Justice sequence to maintain conversations and workshops on advocacy, antiracism, and social justice, connecting these home considerations to social justice actions in completely different nations and broader world efforts. We invited expert audio system throughout sectors — tutorial institutions like Harvard and San Francisco State college; private sector corporations like Google; advocacy organizations like cease AAPI Hate and the NAACP basis; and public sector representatives from the eu Union, G20 Summit, and numerous nation missions to the UN — to converse about social justice, each the historic previous behind actions and the method all by way of which forward for activism. We confirmed that, as a outcome of the leaders of tomorrow, youthful individuals are united for change. Our expertise is aware of and outfitted to acknowledge that the specters of imperialism, colonialism, and racism constructed an unequal world, and we’re the drive for change on this and all areas.
inside the Social Justice sequence, we created areas for a full bunch of youthful people from 5 continents to debate their private tales as anti-racism advocates and methods to face in solidarity to create an enduring world movement for social justice, The event culminated in a world roundtable the place youthful people from all by way of the world shared how they’re advocating for social justice of their very personal residence nations. all by way of the planning course of and my time period, I additionally had good conversations with college students from traditionally Black faculties and universities (HBCUs) like Howard college’s UNA-USA chapter right here in D.C. to amplify their voices inside the UN space. Their chapter actively works with The World Is Watching, a Black Lives Matter group that focuses on worldwide factors and worldwide social justice, and Black Professionals in worldwide Affairs to empower college students to pursue careers inside the worldwide space. We talked about tangible methods to not solely enhance the content material of the Social Justice sequence however additionally methods to contain extra youths from HBCUs on the United Nations. By working to create alternatives for youthful people of all backgrounds to share their tales and take part in worldwide UN-associated conversations, we’re ready to assemble a a lot greater movement to create systemic change.
Cynthia accomplished her undergraduate diploma on the George Washington college in Washington, D.C. photograph: Greg Kahn.
constructing Solidarity in Our Nation’s Capital
As a latest graduate of George Washington college, I’ve spent the previous 4 years dwelling in D.C. and studying how inequity and injustice have shaped the lives of Black and Indigenous people right here, as properly as to people of coloration (BIPOCs) basically. Our nation’s capital tells the story of two cities, thought-about one of immense ranges of wealth and power, however one other of households that are struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis. solely a 15-minute drive from Capitol Hill, you will discover traditionally uncared for neighborhoods equivalent to Ivy metropolis, a predominantly Black neighborhood with residents who’ve shared with me that they’ve felt disenfranchised for years. As thought-about one of many solely neighborhoods the place Black people have been allowed to reside after the Civil battle, Ivy metropolis carries a rich historic previous and is dwelling to residents whose households have been there for generations. these days, builders have started to gentrify Ivy metropolis, creating developments and insurance coverage policies which have pushed out households with many years-prolonged roots inside the neighborhood.
Recognizing the want for equity in all enchancment, I labored with a crew of college students from GW and Université USL to create a proposal on the sustainable and equitable enchancment of the world for the C40 college students Reinventing Cities opponents. pretty merely, our crew aimed to deal with the question on the crux of the difficulty: How will we create a flourishing neighborhood the place we revitalize the neighborhood with out pushing out residents whose households have been there for generations? After interviewing pretty a pair of stakeholders collectively with residents, activists, enterprise dwelling owners, and neighborhood leaders, we created a three-pronged plan centered on neighborhood, mobility, and sustainability. based mostly on the consultations from neighborhood members, elements of our proposal included bettering public transportation, re-imagining deserted or industrial areas as neighborhood facilities and public inexperienced areas, and offering clear power for native households and companies — work that aligns with and helps obtain the SDGs.
all by way of her time in Washington, D.C., Cynthia explored the twin realities of the metropolis’s residents. She is seen right here in Ivy metropolis, a traditionally uncared for neighborhood inside the northeast quadrant of D.C. photograph: Greg Kahn.
Amplifying the Voices of U.S. Youth on the UN
youthful people want extra alternatives to work together with the UN and instantly converse about world factors which have an effect on them personally. although my function as a outcome of the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN is to symbolize the voices of U.S. youths on the world’s stage, true illustration simply isn’t solely about me talking on behalf of others — it is about empowering others in my expertise to instantly handle world leaders themselves. From the very starting of my time period, I made equitable illustration thought-about one of my core targets. Over the previous 12 months, i’ve labored to carry extra alternatives for youthful people to have a direct say inside the UN system, collectively with modifying the UNA-USA’s annual case opponents proper into a format that challenged youthful people to current their ideas on innovation to assist youngsters by way of the pandemic to representatives from UNICEF, UNICEF USA, and the U.S. division of State. Recognizing the intersection of STEM (science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic) innovation and the UN’s world targets, we additionally labored with the UN’s office for Outer space Affairs to create a sequence for U.S. youths on promoting world peace and sustainability by way of outer space evaluation and expertise. in spite of every thing, after we take into consideration factors like local climate movement — SDG thirteen — a quantity of the information that we uncover out about local climate change stems from space innovation, and subjects like outer space will develop extra related as our world continues to innovate and search for options to pressing world subjects.
As my time period attracts to a detailed, I’m grateful for all of the youthful people I’ve met and all of the experiences they shared. Youth movement on the SDGs is essential as a outcome of the worldwide factors we’re dealing with — local climate change, battle, inequality, well being entry, meals insecurity — are going to have an effect on us primarily the most. We inherited a damaged planet and may proceed to really feel the impacts of our leaders’ selections right this second and inside the many years to get back.
The SDGs are right here for our future. They exist for the planet, they exist for our communities, they exist for us. The extra we do to make these 17 targets a actuality, the extra we do to pay money for our personal future — and that of every one who comes into this world after us.