Windhoek
Carllen Karischa Schmidt, 21, is the only Namibian delegate to represent Namibia at the 9th United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Youth Forum in Paris, France, which starts on Monday and ends Wednesday.
This year the Forum is themed ‘Young Global Citizens for a Sustainable Planet’ and will be focusing on how young women and men, as global citizens, can contribute to building sustainability from the global to the local level.
“It is a great platform to meet other delegates overseas with high qualifications and I’m very excited, as I will also be on a platform to learn from other countries regarding youth matters,” says Karischa. She adds that the idea is to go with her mindset, not only to be taught how to fish but to learn how to be able to purchase sell fish.
“During the Forum, there will be time for youth inputs. We will be discussing issues affecting the youth of today, such as unemployment, poverty and others. We will make recommendations, which will be presented at the United Nations (UN) General Conference the week after,” she says.
Karischa, a second-year law student at the University of Namibia (Unam), says during the Forum they will also be debating how young people can live together. The Forum is a major event that aims to reinforce the links between Unesco and youth across the world and to address the challenges confronting young women and men today.
The Unesco Youth Forum is an integral part of the General Conference of Unesco. It was initiated in 1999 to create synergies between the organisation’s work on youth, youth organisations and public institutions in this field.