Empowering Today’s Youth – Part 2: Edgleison, Edgars and Maruba

“The European Commission should continue investing in youth participation because we [youth] would like to be involved in spaces like forums, boards, in networks so that we can say what we want for our communities; so that we can be part of decision-making; and so that we can say to the rulers what they can do to improve our lives,” said Edgleison, who was selected to be a Future Leader at the European Development Days (EDDs) 2015. 

Edgleison speaking at the EDDs 2015

Edgleison is a 22 year old from Fortaleza, Brazil and is one of the key coordinators of the project ‘Jóvenes Monitoreando Políticas Públicas’ [Youth Monitoring Public Policies]. Run by the Brazilian NGO Visión Mundial, the project encourages youth to become involved in policy and suggest actions that will improve public services.

Edgleison, who believes that youth participation is extremely important, has travelled to many events, so that the voice of Brazilian youth can be heard around the world. During the EDDs he spoke on two panels, including one on 'Millennium youth': Young people engaging in the universal sustainable development agenda 2015-2030. Organised by World Vision, this panel offered youth from many different countries the chance to share their views on the post-2015 agenda. 

In the video below, Edgleison along with two of his fellow panellists, shares his thoughts on empowering youth. 

Edgars is a 16 year-old Representative of Millennium Youth in Latvia. He was present at the EDDs to speak about the goal of quality education, which in his eyes, is the most important. 

Edgars explained that the Latvian population and government want to have more vocational schools instead of traditional schools, and plan on closing approximately 20% of high schools to open new vocational schools. He thinks highly of this because he feels that vocational education brings more opportunities, gives more job experience and facilitates finding jobs. 

Maruba is 14 years old and is a Young Delegate for the Zambia School Council, through which he is very active in campaigning for community change. He is a human rights activist, and subsequently he has been invited to numerous events to advocate for social and political change, as well as to speak about youth empowerment.

One of the things Maruba has achieved with his organisation was to build a clinic in his school, after they advocated for one. They did so by talking to school management about the difficulty the students had to access medical care. The school management then engaged the District Community Medical Office through the District Medical Officer who then allocated a health facility and staff.

Maruba believes that youths need to become more involved in decision making, and that “children should have access to meet government officials [like I am today].” Being able to participate in events like the EDDs, ensures that their voices are being heard.

Maruba also mentioned that at the EDDs, he learnt a lot by attending different conferences. He was also part of a group of youth ambassadors selected to meet the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and asked him how he planned to improve the welfare of children and involve them in decision-making.

Maruba with Ban Ki-moon

He really appreciated the fact that he was able to ask questions and share his opinion.

Read more about youth at the EDDs 2015 in:

• Blog: Empowering Today’s Youth – Part 1: Stephen and Olga
• Voices & Views: Youth Working Towards a Happier, Healthier, Safer World