With growing concern throughout the world that youth are not able to receive the proper education and training for future careers, we want to recognize World Youth Skills Day today by highlighting a group of young people working to change that.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2014 to celebrate the importance of giving youth around the world the skills to take on global challenges, advance a sustainable future, achieve fulfilling employment, and lead entrepreneurship. In alignment with the 2024 theme “Youth Skills for Peace and Development,” youth ambassadors working with our partner program Anba Moussa Al-Aswaad Association (ANBA) in Egypt, are promoting a future with increased economic equality and more stable communities through literacy.
To increase understanding among young people about the importance of literacy in building sustainable communities, ANBA youth ambassadors are working with our Feeding Minds youth literacy initiative, funded by Yum! Foundation. These ambassadors motivate young students along an educational and socioemotional journey by increasing literacy rates, and they go all in to make this happen.
Not only do the youth ambassadors make multiple follow up visits to learners’ homes and continuously assess challenges facing students and teachers, they also find ways to mobilize learners to regularly attend classes. They go to lengths to advocate for uninterrupted youth education. It’s not uncommon for youth to leave school for work, and often their employers will not allow them to attend the education program. Undeterred, the literacy ambassadors have taken the extra step to advocate with employers and negotiate a schedule to allow students to continue their learning.
For World Youth Skills Day, we are highlighting the reasons that some Feeding Minds youth ambassadors shared for working with Feeding Minds in their community, Ezbet Khairallah.
Marian Tharwat Fawzy, 20
Marian hopes to learn more about volunteering and to gain more life experiences. She studies international trade policy at university.
Phelopater Youssef, 22
Phelopater wants to understand different personalities and gain experience through his training. He studies international trade policy at university.
Bavly Samy Samir, 21
Bavly volunteers to gain more life experiences and help his community. He is studying fine arts at university.
Nourhan Allaa Bekhiet, 20
Nourhan wants to gain more experience, make new friends, and improve her CV and professional skills. She is studying fine arts at university.
Engy Maher Ramzy, 19
Engy hopes to learn more about volunteering, gain more experience, become active in her community, and meet new people. She studies international trade policy at university.
Christena Essam Kamel, 19
Christena wants to be part of developing her community through literacy while forming new relationships and gaining experience. She is studying tourism management at university.
Milad Carter Attia, 21
Milad desires to develop his social skills, impact the community, and gain more experience. He studies science at university.
Bassant Magdy Fanous, 21
Bassant wants to gain personal experience that will help her after graduation and positively impact others’ wellbeing. She is studying fine arts at university.
In the 9 months since the Feeding Minds program started, youth ambassadors have served 219 youth and young adults, mostly women. Because of the dedication of the youth ambassadors, participants have overwhelmingly increased their literacy levels—many a full grade level—in just this short time.
Learn more about Feeding Minds and other international initiatives