Youth for Change Summit

FORWARD’s Youth Programme Lead and Executive Director participating at the Youth for Change Summit 2014

The summit will be a day of inspiring talks, interactive sessions, debates and sharing ideas to raise awareness about issues affecting girls. Naana Otoo-Oyortley, Executive Director of FORWARD, and Saria Khalifa, the lead of FORWARD’s youth programme, Young People Speak Out, will be participating in the summit throughout the day.

FORWARD Executive Director to be a Panel Member

FORWARD’s Executive Director, Naana Otoo-Oyortley, will be attending throughout the day of the Youth for Change Summit and will be part of the panel at Question Time. Joining a panel of professionals and a member of the Youth Panel, Naana will be answering questions from the floor on FGM and Child Marriage.

She will also be acting as a mentor at the event where young people are given the opportunity to have a ‘speed mentoring’ session with her.

FORWARD Youth Advocates involved in the Youth for Change Summit

We’re delighted that the FORWARD’s Youth Advocates will also be attending the summit. The Youth Advocates were part of the youth panel and planning committee, supporting the organisation of the International Summit which will see over 150 young people, from both the UK and abroad, come to London to discuss the role of young people in the campaign to end FGM and Child and Forced Marriage.

FORWARD’s Stall and Action Session

FORWARD Youth Lead and Youth group members will be hosting a stall in the Youth for Change Summit Market Place. This will be an opportunity for young people and ministers alike to learn more about youth engagement on FGM in the UK and also take part in writing a collective poem about FGM. FORWARD’s latest video ‘These Are Our Friends’, featuring poetry by the youth team on the subject of FGM, will also be shown throughout the day at the stall.

FORWARD will also be delivering one of the 50 minute Action Sessions in the afternoon, with Richard Mkoloma, on how Creative Writing can be used to raise awareness of and campaign on FGM. This will be an abridged version of FORWARD’s successful ‘These Are Our Friends’ workshops in which our Youth Advocates created a book of poetry on the subject of FGM.