Today more than ever we live in uncertain times: countries closing their borders, empty schools and universities, overwhelmed hospitals, people locked in their homes for weeks and the global economy suffering a major blow. We have seen how people left supermarkets empty; buying food, masks, and disinfectants compulsively. We have seen acts of racism and discrimination against certain collectives fearing that they may be infected with coronavirus. We have seen politicians fighting and blaming each other, trying to take advantage of the situation instead of fighting for the common good. We have...

Recently I gave a speech at the Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia as a youth advocate in front of global leaders, officers from different international organizations, and hundreds of people that are working daily to protect children’s rights. Yes, I know. Sounds big, right? But let me tell you first a little bit more about myself and my journey. My name is Daryl, I’m 25 years old and I’m passionate about international relations. Currently, I’m the president of UNSA Spain, a federation that aims to give youth the opportunity to get involved in the Sustainable Development Goals and from here I...

Before writing this article, I did not want to start with bad news or with figures that show how big of a problem the lack of access to healthcare is right now. I told myself that I wanted to start with a positive note, with what it could be and how bright the future can be if we work for it... But how can I share how important it is ensuring the protection of the right to health without pointing out the dire situation we are in? 400 million people don’t have access to basic healthcare in the world and 100 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2017 due to health expenses. The...

I remember feeling how I was plunging into darkness. “Hide it!” I said to myself. “Don’t let them know that you feel. Smile and hide your pain”. We live in a society in which feeling too much is not a good thing, a society in which we select what we want people to see, showing and sharing only smiles, laughs, trips and parties; a lot of times void of meaning, void of happiness. Why do we do that? Simply because it makes us feel better about ourselves, like if by people believing that our life is that way, it may start being that way, and we are not aware of the consequences. Sharing that fake...

I've been hearing for some time that the situation needs to be normalized. However, each day I hear it less, because in my country, we continually battle Covid-19. No one is untouchable, as the Director-General of the World Health Organization has already said, not even young people. We must forget the mentality "it will not happen to me" and begin to say "it will not happen to us". We must understand that this is a pandemic, infecting the world and not only a particular region. The term "pan" is a Latin prefix that refers to "everything". Our society is no longer local, but global. Global...

Do we really have more free time than before the lockdowns? In his "1984" book, George Orwell tells us about a dystopia that is hard to believe, where a "Big Brother" is constantly watching us through a screen that every citizen has at home. My modern version of 1984 is one in which there is no need for "Big Brother" to watch over us any more, because every citizen has it inside him. We have alienated ourselves in a productivist system without limits. We do not need anybody to question that we are not producing and we use our social networks to show that we are still in the wheel, even if...

Four years ago, I applied for a scholarship to go off to study abroad during high-school. The scholarship was everything I’d dreamt of and more; a utopian location, a demanding program, the prestige that came with being part of something like this and -most importantly- it was abroad, which had been my dream for years. Boy, was I excited. This was my chance! Finally, my dreams would come to life, I could already picture myself in that movie-like school with preppy uniforms surrounded by people who, just like me, dreamt of actually making a difference and succeeding. So I worked my fingers to...

People often ask me why I am so concerned about issues like feminism, racism, or immigration, expecially, being a 16-year-old white girl living in a first world country. Well, I always answer the same way: I do it for her. For the 13-year-old girl whose parents have decided to marry her to a 45-year-old man for a piece of land or a little bit of money, who will never have a decent education and will only aspire to be a mother of several children with the same fate as her. Also, for the girl who has just been mutilated against her will because she is a "transition to adulthood" or so she will...

Every child is born with basic rights that have to be fulfilled during its childhood. These rights are for everyone regardless of their ethnicity, … You’ll probably already know that, but could you name the 12 of them? If the answer is no, continue reading. Every child has the rights to be born well. It’s important for an unborn child to be given a safe environment to be born in. This includes, for example, medical attention. 2. Every child has the rights to a wholesome family life. Children deserve a loving family that will give them a perfect environment to learn values and morals. 3. Every...

Are we looking to camouflage climate change? I want to speak clearly and raise my voice: today, more than ever. We live in a real climate crisis. We may be facing one of the greatest threats that humanity has ever faced, and yet, why do we not act? What are we afraid of? Is the challenge so great that we are not able to face it? It had to be a young woman, Greta, who - with her tireless voice, like someone who preaches in the desert - knew how to name the threat that nobody dares to mention: we are talking about a climate crisis and not a change. Greta served as a guide to many young people...