From Canberra to the UN, via the whole of Australia

MONDAY 12 MAY 2008

Over the next four months a student from The Australian National University will aim to meet with more than 4,000 young people in around 400 towns throughout Australia before taking their concerns all the way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

ANU College of Law student Melanie Poole, 23, is one of two Australians selected as this year’s Youth Representatives to the United Nations. It’s a process that will see a gruelling round-Australia tour followed by two months at the United Nations, including delivering an address to the General Assembly.

Since leaving school she has worked as a volunteer in Kenya caring for HIV/AIDS affected children and at a refugee camp on the border of Kenya and Sudan. She also undertook a project in Pakistan consulting with hundreds of young women about the issues facing them. While she acknowledges the next few months may be very challenging, she’s relishing the opportunity.

“I’m looking forward to meeting young people throughout Australia and hearing what concerns they’d like me to take to the UN. This is a chance to get important voices heard, including the voices of disadvantaged and marginalised youth, and to generate meaningful responses to the issues they raise. It’s also a chance to foster connections between young Australians and the rest of the world’s youth.”

The consultation tour has already begun and will see her visit hundreds of towns throughout Australia before she heads off to the UN in September. As part of the tour process, she will be speaking to both young people and community leaders to get a thorough understanding of what issues they are confronting. She said that she thought two issues close to her heart would also be important to the nation’s youth.

“I think climate change is going to be an important issue, as will issues surrounding Indigenous Australia. But I also think that young people feel a lot more positive about engaging with issues following the change of government. For the last decade a lot of young people have felt somewhat shut out of the decision-making process, but the new Federal Government is making efforts to change that.”

One issue Ms Poole will need to confront as part of her undertaking is fundraising. Each year the representatives have to find around $30,000 to undertake the tour and pay their way to New York. While ANU has made a significant donation to help her along the way, she’s still a long way from her target. “The fundraising is a challenge because the only thing we receive is accommodation in New York and I can’t earn any income while I’m doing this. I’m hopeful that I can try and attract sponsors pretty quickly, because I don’t want that to detract from the consultation process,” she said.

More on the Australian Youth Representatives to the United Nations can be found here: http://www.youthrep.org.au/2008/

For more information or to arrange interviews:
Melanie Poole - 0412 517 627
Martyn Pearce, ANU Media Office – (02) 6125 5575 / 0416 249 245