Young Global Advocates Present to Development Studies Conference Delegates
On the 8th of November, IDEA staff along with two of the Young Global Advocate ’s (YGAs) from the Challenging the Crisis project were invited to speak at the Development Studies Association of Ireland (DSAI) annual conference “Bridging the gap- Translating Development Research into Practice”. The two YGAs Emmet and Méabh spoke alongside Elaine Mahon, project coordinator for Challenging the Crisis.
They spoke on the second day in the Education and Development panel about “The Challenges Ahead”. Other speakers included Dr. Su-Ming Khoo from NUI Galway & DSAI and Professor Paul Conway from University of Limerick.
Both YGAs spoke about what Challenging the Crisis is, how they got involved and why they got involved. They then went on to speak about the campaign that would be launched in early 2015 and their plans for the campaign. They both also spoke about the Global Youth Forum they attended in Brussels in July 2014 with YGAs from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia.
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fter the event, Méabh and Emmet shared their thoughts on this experience.
I enjoyed the DSA conference. I liked hearing about other studies and perspectives we hadn't thought of and also I see that there are many people we can link up with for our campaign. Making the speech was fine, there were some nodding heads so I think people like our idea! – Méabh
It was interesting to see such a congregation of experts from various fields, from gender equality to civil society. I particularly enjoyed hearing debate on the topic of the MDGs. As for the brief speeches made by Meabh and I, they were very well-received by the other attendees and we were approached by many people afterwards to wish us well. –Emmet.
Méabh also enjoyed attending other sessions during the event.
I attended the Gender session. I found it very interesting. A woman from Concern was talking about the 'community engagement conversations' that are held in parts of Africa to challenge gender oppression and sexism. I found it inspiring and also thought community engagement conversation could be a tool we could use to educate about our campaign. There were also academics talking about studies they were doing. I like learning about studies and campaigns being run by other people who commit their lives to change. Overall I think it was very worth attending, I think these types of events are important for self-education. – Méabh.
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