If there’s one place in the world where a voice can be heard then surely that place is the United Nations. And never more loudly has a student’s voice been heard than when young Pakastani student Malala Yuosafzai addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations; the youngest person ever to do so. Her story is amazing and needed to be told. But she didn’t dwell on her own misfortunes of being shot by the Taliban for wanting to go to school, rather she addressed the worlds’ leaders and spoke to them on an even level about peace, fairness and education for all. This message she still delivers today, literally, as on TV tonight with none other than Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Check out her amazing answer to this question:
The United Nations is a unique form of leadership. While it wields varying degrees of power, it does a lot of good that goes largely unnoticed. Well known lately for it’s peace-keeping efforts, The United Nations changes the lives of many thousands of children around the world. One of the ways it does this, is through the provision of education for all. The UN’s Convention on the Rights of a Child is a voice for children, and through their advocacy for education in their charter, allows students in return, to have a voice of their own.
In visiting the United Nations, you get a sense of the majesty of humankind and its resilience to find solutions and peace in a sometimes confusing and challenging world. You may walk past a Korean tour guide or an Egyptian in the gift shop while passing by an African diplomat in fine military garb. There are many languages heard, skin colours seen and cultures represented through costume and artwork. But the one thing that breaks through it all is that the nations of the world are united when they come together in the General Assembly Hall. A room that you’ve seen many times on the news, in photos and movies but are struck by a ’moment’ when you experience it first-hand and wonder at the conversations, decisions and dramas that have and will continue to be played out there.
Yes, voices are heard at the United Nations and hopefully in the future, more student voices, for they seem to bypass much of the rhetoric and political point-scoring and get to the heart of a matter, simply and succinctly.
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