JOSHUA’s full speech for UNESCO x SEVENTEEN: Celebrating Youth, Creativity and Well-Being Together #조슈아
🦌: im joshua, and im honored to speak today on behalf of the 13 members of seventeen.
🦌: before anything else, i want to share that all our members truly wish they could be here today. they r sending all their love & support to everyone in this room.
🦌: today marks seventeen’s 3rd visit to unesco headquarters, a place that is always meaningful to us. from the vibrant energy of the 2023 youth forum, where we celebrated youth solidarity, to the profound honor of our 2024 appointment as unesco goodwill ambassadors for youth, every moment remains vivid in our memories.
🦌: upon our appointment, we shared with unesco a core belief: that young people should be empowered to lead change. this vision also aligns closely with the un youth 2030 strategy, wc aims to ensure that all young people, in all their diversities, are empowered as equal partners, leaders, & rights holders. driven by this conviction, seventeen proudly committed to launching a global youth grant scheme entitled “going together: for youth creativity and well-being”. this initiative was designed to provide young people wt resources, mentorship, & platforms to turn their ideas into meaningful actions. deeply moved by their passion & creativity, we knew we couldnt stop there. we expanded our commitment to help scale these efforts & support an even greater impact.
🦌: supporting this journey has been deeply valuable to all of us. we are incredibly proud of everything they have accomplished. pls join me in a warm round of applause for all the young leaders who made these achievements possible, both here wt us in person & joining us online from around the world.
🦌: beyond the numbers, what really matters r the stories. we have seen young people use music and dance for healing, art for mental well-being, & sports to build confidence. they are transforming their communities in ways we never imagined.
🦌: two things amaze us most. first, no project was done by just one person. they came together, joined forces, and made it happen as a team. second, they did not need someone to tell them what to do bc they are the ones who know the challenges of their communities best. they were the ones who found the best solutions.
🦌: together, these experiences showed us that young people already have the answers to change the world. they just need someone to believe in them. at the same time, we know that creating change is never easy. it comes wt moments of doubt, immense pressure, & sleepless nights. for seventeen, that journey feels deeply familiar.
🦌: as 13 individuals sharing one dream for over a decade, we faced our own uncertainties, having to reinvent ourselves, embrace challenges, & push beyond our limits. thru those experiences, we learned that growth is never achieved alone. it thrives on trust & the belief that we are stronger together. yet moving as one team has never meant walking the exact same path. thru our unit & individual endeavors, each of us grows in our own way, making seventeen more complete as a whole.
🦌: it is for this very reason that we have promised to move forward as one team. we see this beautiful dynamic reflected in your work as well. across diff countries & cultures, each of u is pursuing a unique path. while ur projects address diff challenges, together, u r creating a better world for us all. so lets keep going together!
🦌: thru the journey of the global youth grant scheme, we realized that there are dreams everywhere. i think they just need a gentle nudge, a small voice that says, “we believe in you.” we want to be that small voice.