Sawt Falasteen - 'Lead the future': youth challenge world leaders at UN

Maria Marshall, 15, has been a youth activist for several years and has produced short films to raise awareness of climate change and its impact -- particularly in her native Barbados.

"I think people think that we could just go to, maybe, Mars," but "there's only so much that we can really do with money," said the UNICEF ambassador ahead of the UN's annual General Assembly week.

"We only have planet Earth."

Marshall has seen firsthand the dire consequences of climate change in her own country, where beaches disappeared after Barbados was ravaged by hurricane Beryl in July.

"Imagine that -- if all of the beaches of Barbados were to be eaten away like that, it would start to eat into the land," she said ahead of the UN gathering.

Unbowed by some of her peers teasing her for wanting to "save the world", she now hopes to press her case in the corridors of power.

Her videos on social media on how to recycle clothes, along with other upcycling tips "that average people can do" attract hundreds of views.

"How we can help stop climate change is actually by all of us working together," she said.

Her fellow activist Alaine Perdomo, 17, has battled gender inequality in Belize and helped survivors of sexual violence and gender-based discrimination.

"I really saw it happening in my family and (among) my friends and my peers so often," she said.

In response, the student-turned-software developer created an app -- "Safescape" -- to be a safe space where survivors of assault can share as well as obtain support and information.

Following the adoption of a "Pact for the Future" Sunday to chart a course for later generations, Perdomo said she believed world leaders "care."

"I just think that it's always important to hear from different perspectives," she said.

"The point of the United Nations General Assembly is to do that, to bring people together and these fresh perspectives."

- Big journeys, small steps -

Emmanuel Jidisa, 17, also wants to see the views of young people given more weight.

"There's a saying that even the biggest journeys start with small steps -- often taken by those who are directly affected by any given situation. It's young people themselves who are best-placed to say what they think," he said.

Jidisa educates schoolchildren about the perils of climate change in his home country, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The university student, who is a person living with albinism, said that he became aware of the danger caused by the sun when he saw the burns on his own skin.

"It shouldn't be that we choose extinction. The world is getting smaller... I am just calling on leaders to build a world for young people."

Areej Essam, 17, said that being in New York on the sidelines of the UN gathering gave herthe "power to advocate for people in my country (Yemen) and for children that don't have voices."

"If we want a good future, we have to invest in children's education... and peace," she said.

"We have to make sure that they have a sustainable environment to grow in so they can lead the future."

In stark contrast to the overwhelmingly negative mood music at this year's gathering, against a backdrop of wars, famine and uncertainty, Perdomo struck a positive note.

"You have something incredible within you that you can bring and contribute to the world," she said calling on the assembled dignitaries to follow their "passions."

J.Saleh--SF-PST