SASHA E. BUTLER

Executive Director
Changing Destinations: Journey to Excellence, Inc., USA

Ms. Sasha E. Butler is the Executive Director of Changing Destinations: Journey To Excellence, Inc., located in Columbia, Maryland. She leads critical global education initiatives for school-community partnerships and the implementation of leadership, socio-emotional learning, community service, and global citizenship education programs. Previously, Ms. Butler held various leadership positions in New York within higher education institutions, community-based organizations, and the business industry. Ms. Butler also serves as an International Education Consultant and Strategist for InXcellence Consulting: Training & Coaching Solutions (1997). She provides professional development resources to educators in the United States, Uganda, and Nigeria. Ms. Butler is a member of the Harvard University GSE Think Tank on Global Education: Empowering Global Citizens equipping teachers and administrators to foster global competence in schools by co-constructing curriculum and devising strategies for systemic change. She is also a member of the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence to promote intercultural understanding for a more peaceful and sustainable world.

Event Title: Advancing Youth through Social and Economic Empowerment   Date: September 25, 2019
   

SPEECH

Key priorities and challenges in access to quality education

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear that everyone has the right to education. Despite the progress made in increasing access and participation around the world, economic and social disparities remain a threat to this fundamental right. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) reported 200 million youth are out of school. Current challenges in access to quality education include lack of funding, inadequate infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, and outdated learning materials. Adequate ongoing training resources are also an issue in high-poverty schools hindering teachers’ effectiveness and students’ ability to learn. Additionally, racial, gender, and disability discriminatory practices deny youth access to quality educational opportunities.

We must continue to work collaboratively and invest more responsibly within our local and global communities to eliminate these barriers and create opportunities for the next generation. To achieve the goal of advancing youth through social and economic empowerment we must establish clear priorities aligned with our mission. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for fostering innovation solutions. Quality Education (SDG 4) and Partnerships for Goals (SDG 17) are at the center of our four key priorities: Social Emotional Learning; Leadership Development; Community Services; and Global Citizenship. Support for youth-led initiatives is an essential component for achieving learning objectives and preparing youth for success inside and outside the classroom. School districts, higher education institutions, local, state, and federal governments, small businesses and large corporations must share the responsibility for equipping youth with the skills and knowledge needed to become leaders and global citizens by creating grassroots, multi-stakeholder platforms where youth are given opportunities to lead.

Shared power is an important core value which motivates young people and teaches them to think critically about the world around them. They bring a fresh perspective on addressing challenges and generating innovative ideas. Youth are key to achieving the SDGs when empowered to lead and develop confidence to act and mobilize others toward a more equitable and sustainable future.

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JOHNNIE LEE FIELDER

Director of Operations
International Youth Leadership Institute

 

 

 

 

Event Title: Advancing Youth through Social and Economic Empowerment      Date: September 25, 2019
   

SPEECH

Youth as stakeholders in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals: Advocacy, awareness-raising, and capacity building

The mission of the International Youth Leadership is to nurture a new generation of visionary leaders from the African diaspora who, inspired by their rich African heritage, are committed to leaving a legacy in the world. It is important for youth to be given the opportunity to express and flex their leadership capabilities and the International Youth Leadership Institute does this cultivation of leadership by introducing the concept of being a global citizen to youth who are rising ninth graders to 12th grade. The vision of the International Youth Leadership Institute is Every day, youth of African descent are assuming leadership roles in making the world a better place, wherever they are. Leaders of the the IYLI will be in multiple places simultaneously creating and generating innovative ideas and solutions to some of today’s most nuanced issues.

International Youth Leadership Institute was founded in 1989 by two African American men by the name of Keith Brown, who worked in Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and Dr. Micheal Webb, who worked on education development in Africa. When the two men returned to their home city of New York, they asked themselves how can more brown and black youth experience travel as an educational and leadership tool. By encouraging young Brown and Black youth to actively engage with their communities, both local and global they are furthering the mission of some of the SDGS. Through CSDPs, or Community Service Development Projects, youth are able to identify issues in their communities and then tackle them throughout the school year. Some past projects have been focused on eliminating violence, mental health awareness, urban farming, fundraising initiatives, and gender equity. The Community Service Development projects, then culminate in our Summer Heritage Program where youth travel to South Americans or African nations where they are then able to interact with municipalities, public officials, various non governmental organizations and bridge cultural relations between themselves and host country nationals, and conducting ethnographic research reflecting the socio-economic and political climate of that specific Summer Heritage Program. The amazing thing about having youth as decision makers is that they aren’t corrupted by being categorized or conditioned to operate within boundaries of bureaucracies. They have all the energy and desire to make change a reality. Thank you.

Question from audience participant: I heard you say a lot of about work in Africa but you didn’t really mention what specifically it is that the program does. Thank you for your question and I’m glad that you asked. We have Senegalese counterparts that run our Senegalese program in country. They (Senegalese Group Leaders) are our peers, recruiting, training, and preparing our Senegalese fellows for the Summer Heritage program. We also have capacity building meetings every month with our counterparts, bringing them update on program development and building leadership capacity for partnership development with in-country. Outside of this, we also partner with organizations in Senegal. Our biggest

partner is REDES, a non-governmental organization that operates in the Sahel region, working closely with residents in rural areas to cultivate sustainable solutions to food in-security, deforestation, and agricultural degradation. I hope that helped to answer your question, thank you.

Question from audience participant posed to Sasha E Butler: I attend Columbia and I feel like a lot of people in my generation do not care about many of the issues facing today’s society. How do I engage people my own age to care about some of the issues mentioned today?

I would like to add to that. Firstly I am so honored to be here on this panel with such a diverse panel with so much experience. But I am your peer, I just turned 25 and I’m up here trying my best to make changes in the areas where I can. We are so consumed with networking in a very vertical way but we need to become more familiar networking in a more linear way. Ask yourself the question before you ask others, because what you will find is that there will be a lot of commonalities in the answers because at the end of the day we are all human. What you’ll find is that a lot of what interests you also connects and resonates with others.

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EMMANUEL N.B. FLOMO


Founder & Executive Director
Inspire Liberia Project, LIBERIA

Mr. Emmanuel N. B. Flomo has an MBA in Public Finance and is the 2015 Winner of the Future Africa Award Prize for Youth in Public Service, Lagos, Nigeria. He has contributed to youth development work in Liberia and Africa for over 15 years. Mr. Flomo was elected as Vice President for Liberia National Student Union (LINSU), which serves as the umbrella organization for all students in Liberia. In 2013, he was also selected to the Technical Youth Team of Former Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Program called the President ‘s Young Professional Program. Mr. Flomo is the Founder & Executive Director of The Inspire Liberia Project, an institution in Liberia working to promote youth empowerment through community civic engagement, community empowerment, and to increase indigenous participation in decision making in Liberia.

Event Title:Advancing Youth through Social and Economic Empowerment     Date: September 25, 2019
   

SPEECH

Let me first acknowledge the hard work, and extend my thanks, to Cemre Ulker and the President for Journalist and Writer Foundation, Mr. Mehmet Kilic for this initiative and for affording me the opportunity to moderate this prestigious panel. In that respect, I am happy to welcome everyone, to Panel 2 discussion with a focus on Advancing Youth through Social and Economic Empowerment.

 Young people are a significant segment of the global population index and critical to the social and economic development of any country. Today, there are over 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years; indicating that Young people are key. We can play a significant role in enhancing global social and economic development and change if we are given the opportunity. Some progress has been made in many Countries in advancing Youth Development, but the challenges in the process are still overwhelming in many parts of our globe. 


Many of the progress so far in youth development is overwhelmingly credited to developed nations, while developing nations are far from near giving serious attention to these issues. For example, the European Commission considers that “Europe’s future prosperity depends on its young people and thus deserve particular support and consideration as well as seeks to strengthen people’s current and future capacities and improve their opportunities to participate in society” (EC European Policy brief, 2014). Such a policy like this is vital for Youth Social Advancement and Empowerment, but the step taken by the EU is yet acknowledged or cheer in the entire continent of Africa. 


Africa which the youth population is estimated to be one-third of the world population today is behind when it comes to youth social advancement and empowerment. The youth of the continent is poor; education and access to jobs have been challenged.  This figure and the lack of progress in youth development in Africa posed a tremendous global threats to the SDGs if African leaders and the young people are not proactively engaged. 


As part of the engagement effort, I have made continuous advocacies in Liberia with emphasis on the national frameworks that promote a productive workforce and creating opportunities that could allow the youth to make a significant contribution to nation-building. Young people should be empowered and motivated to consider political leadership as a means to serve their nation and should be oriented on anti-corruption drives with a focus on prevention, education, and strategies for fighting corruption and restoring economic development.

Well-developed skills can be equated to long-lasting empowerment and sustainable growth. When we take critical development steps, a huge to the reduction in the rural and urban gap becomes visible and appreciable by the society and its people. Young people represent courage, wisdom, and energy, the will-power to do good, they are able to take leadership that would make the difference. Their energy and understanding must be respected, guided and built for future roles. 

 

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DR. ADA JUNI OKIKA

Executive Director, Center for SDG Global Education

 

Event Title: Inclusive Social Development in Achieving the Global Goals 2030 Date: September 25, 2019
   

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Since the Post-2015 Era, the Center for SDG Global Education has focused on “Education Solutions in Community Classrooms” along the SDG Goal # 4 and the its targets in the Global Agenda 2030. In the course of our reach, we observed that quality education and inclusion for lifelong learning seems far fetched in communities in developing countries. Most communities still lack a curriculum on educational technology and technological facilities, qualified teachers and standard teaching and learning infrastructure. In communities with opportunities and facilities for quality education, educational practices begin with a complex curriculum that focuses on what children do not know but what they know. This hinders quality education, which is expected that SDG Goal # 4 and its targets will address globally by leaving no one behind.

In addition, we launched Barr Juni and Irene Endowment Trust to raise $80,000 to help provide schools in the Community Rehabilitation Scheme, scholarships, introduce visiting teacher services to community classrooms and Global Teacher Classroom.

We are committed to these initiatives that will help achieve the Global Agenda 2030. In addition, these initiatives will support partnerships between stakeholders and UN agencies to address quality and inclusive education in community classrooms in developing countries.

As we digress on the input from the 74th Session of the UNGA, it is pertinent to focus on the addendum that the community classrooms have an urgent need to improve the quality of education and the level of teaching and learning to meet the demands of SDG Goal # 4 and its target globally.

 

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DR. MACHARIA MUNENE


Professor
United States International University, KENYA

Dr. Macharia Munene is a professor of History and International Relations at the United States International University in Nairobi, obtained his doctorate in Diplomatic History in 1985 from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Dr. Munene has served as Collaborating International Faculty, Universitat Jaume-1, Castellon, and Professorial Affiliate of the National Defence College, Karen, Nairobi, Kenya. He also taught at the University of Nairobi, where he was Chairman of the Department, Kenyatta University, Moi University, The Ohio State University, Kentucky State University, and Ohio University. Dr. Munene has also served as an External Examiner at the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Masinde Muliro University, and Egerton University. Dr. Munene is recognized as a public intellectual and resource person. He has received the United Nations recognition as an Expert on Decolonisation. He is also rated among the Top 100 CCTV-4 commentators in the world. And, appears in Kenyan and global media and public forums as an observer, analyst, and columnist. Dr. Munene also serves as an Advisor to the Harmony Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.

Event Title: Inclusive Social Development in Achieving the Global Goals 2030 Date: September 25, 2019
 

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