COVID-19, climate change, and many other factors have impacted children and young people globally. An entire generation is at risk. The Children’s Policy and Funding Initiative supports efforts to encourage our government to make children and young people globally a top priority. To ensure effective policies, programming, and funding, it is critical that young people have a voice and a seat at the table and have input into decisions that impact their lives. Young people are leading changemakers and need to be part of solutions.
The Youth Alliance Working Group (YAWG) is composed of fellows, interns, and young people who provide partner organizations with a pragmatic way for youth perspectives to be part of the process. The YAWG objectives are to:
The Youth Alliance Working Group has helped shape the Initiative's joint advocacy agenda, providing their own recommendation such as calls for establishing a Congressional Caucus for Children and Youth Globally.
The Youth Alliance Working Group (YAWG) is composed of fellows, interns, and young people who provide partner organizations with a pragmatic way for youth perspectives to be part of the process. The YAWG objectives are to:
- Provide expertise and insights from a young person’s perspective into policy proposals and advocacy initiatives and ensure young people are fully engaged and contributing to policy priorities and advocacy initiatives
- Facilitate youth learning about and contributions to the Initiative and civil societies in proposing government initiatives
- Demonstrate that youth are changemakers who bring solutions
- Provide youth with practical experience interacting with government officials and NGO representative
- Engage global youth networks to ensure their experience, concerns, and recommendations are brought to policymakers and that the needs of children and youth globally are prioritized, rather than remain an afterthought
The Youth Alliance Working Group has helped shape the Initiative's joint advocacy agenda, providing their own recommendation such as calls for establishing a Congressional Caucus for Children and Youth Globally.
Political Will & Advocacy
CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH GLOBALLY
The YAWG is supporting and advocating for the joint advocacy agenda put forward by the Initiative to make children and youth globally a priority in government policy, programming and funding. The YAWG has also prioritized calls for the creation of a nonpartisan Congressional Caucus for Children and Youth Globally. This Caucus would:
The YAWG is supporting and advocating for the joint advocacy agenda put forward by the Initiative to make children and youth globally a priority in government policy, programming and funding. The YAWG has also prioritized calls for the creation of a nonpartisan Congressional Caucus for Children and Youth Globally. This Caucus would:
- Acknowledge young people as changemakers and future leaders on issues ranging from democratic governance, poverty alleviation, justice, human rights, equality and equity, violence prevention, conflict resolution, environmental protection, peace and security, and much more
- Facilitate activities by Members of Congress to support better outcomes for children and youth around the world
- Ensure issues impacting children and youth globally are prioritized in government policies, programming, and funding
- Encourage Members of Congress to support a holistic approach to meet the needs of children and youth globally.
To build political will and and strengthen advocacy efforts, the YAWG is currently active preparing and empowering youth to meet with officials in Congress and government. The YAWG has contributed to and is advocating for the Initiative's joint advocacy agenda, which would ensure children and youth globally are a higher priority in government policy, programming, and funding. In addition, the YAWG has prioritized calls to create a Congressional Caucus for Children and Youth Globally.
Initiative Consultations
The Initiative and YAWG participants consult and interact regularly to ensure youth perspectives are considered and integrated into Initiative recommendations and materials. The YAWG serves as a youth “soundboard” for proposals and engages to shape and influence outputs. The YAWG facilitates participation by youth advocates from around the world into virtual events for policymakers and their staff.
YAWG Secretariat
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Emily Davis (she/her) is a Research Associate and Advocacy Liaison for the Children's Policy and Funding Initiative and a Research Fellow at Strategy for Humanity. She is in her final year at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver pursuing a Master of Arts in International Studies with a focus in Human Rights and a Graduate Certificate in Humanitarian Assistance. Emily’s specialization is in gender-based violence and women’s rights. Previously, Emily interned for the U.S. Department of State in the Office of Global Criminal Justice where she assisted the office in multiple mass-atrocity prevention tasks and reports. She also interned for the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility Community of Practice where she identified, tracked, and quantified information and support requests posted on the Community of Practice website by participant members from around the world. She hopes to pursue a career in gender-based violence prevention, peace, and security. You can find her LinkedIn here.
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Anny Lin (she/her) serves as a Fellow for the Global Campaign for Education-US (GCE-US), where she supports the organization’s advocacy, public policy, communications, and engagement work. She is a current student at The George Washington University, studying international affairs, with a focus in international development and economics. Anny has previously served as an intern at Inkululeko, a non-profit organization that promotes education access in the township communities of Makhanda, South Africa, where she assisted with the organization’s grant management, donor relations, and social media presence. As a Fellow at GCE-US, Anny is excited to support and engage with coalition members and other advocates to further improve equitable education access for all.
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Meghana Srikrishna is Search for Common Ground's (SFCG) Youth, Peace, & Security fellow. She assists with SFCG's youth-centered advocacy and is also a second year graduate student studying Global Communication with a concentration in Public Diplomacy at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. Prior to joining SFCG, Meghana worked in immigration law as a paralegal and has policy experience from past internships with the US-ASEAN Business Council and U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Meghana holds a B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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Pierina Anton Lopez (she/her) is a Global Campaign for Education-US Fellow and a Master’s candidate in Global Human Development at Georgetown University in Washington, DC where she is a 2021 USAID Donald M. Payne Fellow. As a GCE-US Fellow, Pierina assists with global and national advocacy, communications, and mobilization efforts surrounding the global right to quality, inclusive, education for all. She previously worked with the USAID/Bangladesh Office of Education to design programs in teacher training and development and evaluated grant proposals for youth climate and democracy programs. Prior to her graduate studies, Pierina worked with the United States Institute of Peace and supported the Institute’s peacebuilding initiatives in Ukraine. She previously interned with USAID’s Bureau for Africa, in the Education and Youth Division, where she supported the agency’s work in education in crisis and conflict, social and emotional learning, and countering school-related gender-based violence. While completing her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at Florida International University, Pierina worked with the International Rescue Committee in Miami, Florida. There, she connected unaccompanied youth migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to essential social services, including healthcare, education, and pro-bono legal assistance. As a student, she taught English at a local teacher training college in Siem Reap, Cambodia and developed a report on the challenges facing the Cambodian education sector after conducting key informant interviews with UNICEF Siem Reap staff. Born in Venezuela, Pierina is a first-generation, Latina immigrant and is a passionate advocate for access to quality, inclusive education, especially for underserved communities including refugees, migrants, and girls.
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Aku Unvu (She/Her) is currently a second-year college student pursuing Political Science with a concentration in International Relations at The College of Wooster. She is originally from Denver, Colorado, where she attended APS Avenues High School. Aku is interested in foreign policy, human rights issues, and immigration issues. In the future she hopes to influence foreign policy and human rights issues as a diplomat.
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