It is hard to be an activist in a world where everybody expects a girl to be soft and cute at all times. And I can tell because I have been bullied my entire childhood and during my teenage years. I was called “bossy” most of the times, or worse, “boyish girl”. Today, as a grown up, the situation isn't much different. It wasn’t easy for me to put up with all the pressure. But I did. I knew what I had was bigger than their words and the names they were calling me. Frankly, what they thought is going to break me, broke them, and made me stronger. One year ago, I read an article with the title...

How many times have you ever thought of this question: “Who inspires you?” I know it might seem easy. But trust me, it is not. Especially when your answer should be clear and honest, identifying the person who has impacted your past and will continue to impact your future. I have spent a week already brainstorming who might be that person. I don’t want to give a random answer. I identified several criteria for what makes a person influential. I looked up the characteristics of influential people. According to all the articles I read my person should hold these traits: 1- He must be a leader of...

When I turned 6, I did not consider myself a kid anymore . Ever since, I saw the world from a different angle. I started dedicating 2 hours per day to my English story book collection. It was called “The Wild Thornberry”. I used to spend hours pinned to my desk reading and writing. I was fascinated by the accent and the sound of the letters of the new language I was learning; English, it was. The biggest question I was constantly asked is “ Are you crazy adding extra study hours to your schedule?” My answer was, “ I don’t think I can be more reasonable.” “Those who know nothing of foreign...

I grew up in a house where an interesting story has been told many times. “When prince charming (your dad) came to steal the heart of my little princess (your mom)” my grandfather starts, with a smile on his face and a glowing tear on his cheek. “Your mom was preparing to harvest the fruit of 12 years of constant hard work, sleepless nights and the perseverance to succeed” he continues. With his hand on my shoulder and a warm voice he adds: “I stood solid and said firmly that no man shall marry my daughter until she celebrates her personal victory”. Which is graduation, he explains. At that...

On the 14th of December, 2015 I left my home in Syria to start a special journey on Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and peacebuilding. However, because I have a Syrian passport, I had to go through many difficulties and interrogations before arriving in Jordan. Still, it was worth it. Back in the days, we didn’t need any security clearance nor a visa to enter our neighboring country. However, today, things are different. Finally, I arrived there. I entered the room and there I found 41 powerful advocates from 23 different countries. I stood there for a moment and my heart was pumping. The...

Syria sees its first major national campaign: 16 Days of Activism is a campaign that was organized by the United Nations Population Fund in Syria. The campaign succeeded in portraying the solidarity and resilience of the Syrian community. After the crisis hit, it was a great challenge for all the partners to run a harmonized program in 8 cities (Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Lattakia, Tartous and Swida). However, our goal is to keep spreading the same values we worked on in this campaign. Today, UNFPA along with 7 local partners is celebrating the success of illuminating Syria...

My name is Salam and I am from Syria. Probably not many know where Syria is on the map. However, my aim is not to further explain you the geographical location of my country. My aim is to let those who never heard the word “Syria”, as well as those who heard it already, know how Syrian youth can be a great added value no matter where they are. The exact translation of my name in English is “Peace”. I start to realize how lucky I am to have such a powerful name, especially at a time when the meaning itself is lost in a big dark sea filled with war and inequity. When I turned 18, crises hit. And...

I am currently representing young migrants at the Global Forum for Migration and Development. I held a speech on youth participation and am actively taking part in the discussions. I want to share with you my answers to an interview with the UNICEF colleagues from Germany. In your opinion, why is the Global Compact on Migration so important for migrant children? The Global Compact on Migration is a first international step to tackle migration on a global level. While migration has always existed, additional dimensions and challenges are now influencing it. An increasing number of people are on...

Anorexia. What do you think of when you hear this word? Probably you are thinking of emaciated models. Or you are thinking of these famous pictures and drawings of a woman looking into a mirror, seeing a much curvier silhouette than she really is. You probably think that anorexia is the simple renouncement to food. But do you actually know what anorexia is? What it means to the patients? I have discovered that most people, even doctors have no clue about this topic and there are many misconceptions around it. How can she claim this you might ask yourselves now? The answer: I was anorexic...

The difficulties communicating with foreign patients There is a short moment of total silence and we all just watch each other. “We” is my “doctor-godfather” (a doctor I am assigned to work with to receive insight into practicing in the medical field), a foreign patient, her interpreter and me (medical student in the second semester). My doctor-godfather, warned me just before our appointment with the patient: “That’s going to take some doing”. Why? Because the patient does not speak or understand German or English and we would therefore be totally dependent on an interpreter. My doctor...

While there is an increasing number of Health Gadgets (e.g. sports watches) available and the Internet is flooded with health information it seems increasingly challenging for people to make decisions in favour of their health. Sources often are lacking scientific and medical quality and are influenced by economic interests. Western societies actively commercialize unhealthy lifestyles. In addition to that people are not supported sufficiently in the decision-making process and navigation in the health system. This does not only have negative effects on the individual but the whole community...

Global Forum on Migration and Development - Agadir 21-22. June 2018 - Reflections From the 21.-22. June, I have attended the GFMD thematic workshop (organised in the partnership with UNICEF) in Agadir, as one of 13 young delegates (from more than 10 countries of origin). The aim of this conference was to discuss issues that concern the migration of children and youths and to find sustainable and durable solutions to them in the context of the GCM (Global Compact on Migration). For that representatives from governments, NGOs and other organisations came together. The discussions ranged from...

How we can start communicating Science effectively… We all know that scientific discoveries and their practical applications, be it in the fields of medicine, economics, technology etc. promote industrial and social development and that research, innovation and new technologies to a large extent can influence and determine economic, social, political and even ethical dimensions of modern societies. This presupposes that scientific advances and findings have to be communicated to the grand public in both an accurate and understandable way ensuring that the information reaches the people. But...

In search of a satisfying definition… We talk about freedom and liberty all the time and tend to embrace these notions. Freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of information etc. But what do these two terms mean exactly? Finding a satisfying and suitable definition is not as easy as it might seem at first. First of all, let us look at official definitions. Liberty is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behaviour, or political views.”, while freedom is...

Thoughts on the integration of refugees: The news is full of information concerning the “refugee crisis” - headlines and cover pictures create horror scenarios. And for the past few years leading politicians are restlessly looking for THE solution to the problem … but nothing seems to work. Integration seems to fail in all European countries. We have to understand that we cannot generalize when it comes to working with people who have suffered psychological trauma. Solutions have to be tailored to the individual where factors like their family and cultural background, physical and mental...

We set so much importance to our visual appearance; clothes, cosmetics, make-up... and in this time of technology we can even alter our visual traits, online or offline, so that we are more appealing. Many of us believe that our outer appearance reveals a lot about our personality, character and even health. On the other hand, many of us do not think about the importance of what our voices can communicate. When was the last time you thought about how you spoke? I do not mean what you say, but really how you say it! I believe the voice is the mirror of the soul – not just the "eyes" as it is...

“I don’t care if you know things! I want you to understand them!” That is what my anatomy university lecturer told us in one of our last lectures before exams. This sentence has struck me and has provoked some critical thinking about the structure of the subject that I am studying and the value of assessments. I started studying medicine last October and have completed my first stressful and, at the same time, exciting semester. I had to adjust to university structures and processes, while being overwhelmed with information from a whole range of different subjects; Physics, Chemistry, Biology...

What role do stigma and stereotypes play in the transmission of HIV? What do you think about when you hear HIV/AIDS? Be honest! Do you have dramatic pictures of sickly, scraggy, suffering people in your head? Or do you picture Tom Hanks in his movie Philadelphia? Many of you reading this article probably will. You do not have to be ashamed or blame yourself. This is not directly your fault. HIV is still a taboo topic, faced with irrational fears and surrounded by a lot of myths all around the world. I must admit that I myself was very surprised when I treated my first HIV-positive patient in...

Voices of Youth is UNICEF's community FOR YOUTH, BY YOUTH ✊✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿 Discover other stories from young voices around the world -and share yours! How? Register in our web, follow us on Twitter or use the hashtag #VoicesOfYouth on your social media channels. Ready to speak up for the issues you care about? The World Health Organization defines violence as ‘’the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm...

What comes to your mind when you hear the term “Social Media?" Perhaps some people thinking about the media that makes them able to meet and communicate with people around the world. While some others think about that, social media is the channel that gives them the chance to send and receive many information. Others think that social media is about the way we get many updates from people who we follow and maybe someone out there thinks social media is a part of a new marketing strategy. Nowadays, social media seems like a big part of our life. When your friends didn’t reply to your text, you...