This week, I had the honor of joining @unesco for a gathering of incredible young activists and social entrepreneurs from all around the world at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. This gathering titled as “Rethinking Youth Engagement with UNESCO”, was like a hackathon focused on creating ideas on how UNESCO can enhance its engagement with young change-makers as well as scale-up their outstanding youth actions.

Representing the tribal and rural youth of Pakistan, I emphasized the need to create more economic opportunities for young people and take measures to shorten the huge gap between the young people and the opportunities that are already there. Pakistan is a thriving country of amazing minds, but those minds lack a sustainable connection to existing opportunities, like grant programs, scholarships, and basic trainings that would empower them to start their own businesses or initiatives. They often even lack access to information about those programs. This gap has, for decades, deprived young people of knowing what they can do to create change in their families and their societies. I have seen young people be full of ideas and skills but sadly no platforms to use them.
I am deeply grateful to UNESCO for its continuous efforts to ensure youth participation in their planning processes. It is the best way to close this gap.
A few photos from the powerful gathering #UNESCOYouthForum2017
#PakistaniTribalwoman