UN Women announces Beijing+25 Youth Task Force
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The year 2020 will mark several important milestones for gender equality and sustainable development, including the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, one of the most comprehensive blueprints for women’s rights worldwide.
UN Women is determined to make sure that young people are in the driving seat of these galvanizing moments and contribute to all stages of the global review process and the generation equality campaign.
Following call for applications in June, UN Women is pleased to announce the “Beijing+25 Youth Task Force”, comprising of 30 young leaders from different youth-led and youth-serving organizations, with diverse areas of expertise and from all regions of the world. They represent young people in all their diversity and across intersectional complexities including marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, indigenous and ethnic identities, and refugee or migrant status. The selected youth leaders have also a track record of driving change in their communities and mobilizing young people for the empowerment young women and girls all over the world.
The youth leaders will support and guide UN Women’s efforts to place young people at the centre of the Beijing+25 process; be part of a network of young supporters that will foster momentum on youth engagement for gender equality on a global level; and exchange expertise and knowledge with other young people that are working towards the same goals.
UN Women has launched a global campaign, Generation Equality, to mark the 25th anniversary of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, to tackle the unfinished business of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment everywhere.
Stay tuned to know more about the work of the Beijing+25 Youth Task Force and click here to see who they are!
Meet the members representing the Arab States region:
EGYPT
Rania Ayman
Rania is the Founder and Managing Director of Entreprenelle, a mission driven enterprise that strives to bridge the gender gap economically by educating, training and linking women to resources in Egypt. Her work has focused on advancing socioeconomic gender rights, specifically the right to adequate standard of living based on the SDG 8 of “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. She has represented Egypt at many international conferences, such as The Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India, Social Enterprise World Forum in the United Kingdom, World government summit in UAE and African Youth Conference in Kenya. She was awarded as the “Best Female Entrepreneur “by YE! and featured as one of the most active “25 under 25 Entrepreneurs”.
IRAQ
Anmar Khalid
Anmar is a human rights activist and youth advocate from Iraq. He has over 10 years of experience with youth participation and leadership in the fields of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), peace building, gender equality and gender-based violence (GBV). He is currently the International Coordinator in Charge of Y-PEER International Network, a youth led- network of young people and organizations working in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), youth participation and other youth-related issues through peer education approach and interactive methodology in 46 countries around the world. In 2018, Anmar on behalf of Y-PEER received the International Maxx Royal Award for Outstanding Achievements in Combatting Taboos and Stigma around Women's Health.
PALESTINE
Amani Aruri
Born and raised in Palestine, Amani is passionate about linking, improving, and increasing support to women and youth peacebuilders and increasing young people’s pro-social civic engagement and democratic participation, particularly in high-risk contexts. She is the Advocacy Team Leader at the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling, the Acting Director of the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art, a member of the assembly of the UN Women gender innovation program-AGORA and was elected for the Youth Local Council of Eastern Bani Zaid town in Palestine. She also leads campaigns (including media campaigns) to hold duty bearers accountable for violations of women's rights on the national and international levels and raises the awareness on the situation of Palestinian women.
SYRIA
Salam Al-Nukta
Originally from Syria, Salam is a startup enthusiast in the Netherlands with a passion for bringing immediate and strategic value-added projects focusing on women’s empowerment and communities’ prosperity. She founded and launched “ChangeMakers” in 2016, a startup in Syria which aims to close the gender gap in STEM. She spoke at Geneva Peace Week 2018 and other forums, highlighting the voices of young girls in peacebuilding and development. With a working experience of 3 years with the UN, currently, Salam is focusing on founding a startup that aims to empower female smallholder farmers in cooperation with Young Sustainable Impact (YSI) in Norway. She has completed 3 years of BSc in Biology from Damascus University and is now preparing for BSc in International Business Adminstration.
TUNISIA
Racha Haffar
Racha is an award-winning women’s rights and feminist activist, named among the top 5 inspiring female entrepreneurs in the Arab World. She is the founder and President of ‘Not 4 Trade,’ the first anti-human trafficking NGO in Tunisia. She is working on launching an African Youth Movement against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration. She is a Fulbright Alumna at the University of Kentucky, a journalist and a university professor of public speaking and professional communication.