The UN Secretary General has called on society to make the 2020’s a Decade of Action. He saw a need to accelerate sustainable solutions to achieve the SDG’s by 2030. This global campaign is a unique opportunity for Friendship Ambassadors to contribute as part of the UN’s active civil society as we focus our efforts on Action and Impact. We began this journey just over 18 months ago at the urging of many delegates who wanted to take what they learned at the Youth Assembly and put it toward making the world a better place. Having just began with FA, I thought this had direct ties to our overall purpose as set forth by our founder, Harry Morgan, in the 1960’s. His desire was to “bring people together so they could make a difference in the world.” For decades we have been focused on bringing people together; today we are focused on making a positive difference in the world.
We are in the first month of this new Decade for Action, and like the Secretary General, I believe it is important that we begin right away in taking steps toward promoting action so we can accelerate progress. With this as a driving force, I’m pleased to let you know about four announcements on the horizon:
- Impact Report: I’m very excited to let you know that we will soon be releasing our inaugural Impact Report. This is a summary of work being done around the world within the FA community. It is so inspiring to see young people taking such great care and interest in creating positive change. We hope this is just the beginning of more such reports.
- Global Impact Challenge: We are currently in the midst of conducting our first Global Impact Challenge. This was the first time we engaged the FA community beyond those that just attend the Youth Assembly. Finalists will be named soon and winners will be awarded at the Youth Assembly in February .
- YA25 Action and Impact: We will be sending out the final program for our upcoming YA25 in February. You will see a number of new and or expanded portions of this YA devoted to Action and Impact making it the most action oriented YA to date.
- Decade of Youth Action: I’m very happy to announce that in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Global Communications Civil Society Unit, we will be holding an event at the United Nations on March 4th called the Decade of Youth Action. Registrations will be opening in the coming weeks. The outcome document of the 25th session called the 2020 Declaration of Priorities will be presented at this event. It will set the agenda for our FA community to work together towards making a difference in the world.
While a decade seems like a long time, it’s not enough in terms of the gravity of the challenges we’re currently facing to achieve the SDG 2030 Agenda. Friendship Ambassadors joins the international community in supporting the Secretary General’s call to accelerate efforts by continuing to do our work and bringing people together to make a difference and create a better world for all people.