As a new member of the World Youth Alliance staff, it was edifying to attend this week’s U.N. Commission on Population Development addressing the topic of Health, Morbidity, Mortality, and Development. Having recently studied the basic principles that guided the founding of the World Youth Alliance, it was exciting to witness the practical force of such commitments in the public arena.
In the various statements presented before the commission, many member states stressed the importance of access to reproductive health services in order to adequately further international development goals. In response, the World Youth Alliance presented a statement prioritizing improvements in primary health care over family planning and reproductive services.
As the World Youth Alliance’s Director of Culture, I look forward to envisioning cultural activities for young people that will compliment these advocacy efforts. With background as a classical violinist, I have experienced how engagement in creative pursuits witnesses to the depths of the human person and the profound nature of the human experience. My hope is that the World Youth Alliance’s creative projects will express the uniqueness of individual personalities while revealing the universality of the human experience that transcends cultural barriers.
By Alexis Kende – Director of Culture, World Youth Alliance
