United Nations, New York, 17 May 2013 - The Google+ Hangout was held with the participation of Executive Coordinator of United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Mr Richard Dictus and Mr Prateek Awasthi, Co-chair of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD).
In addition, three youth participants took part in the event: Mr Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, Danae Espinoza, Project Manager at the Integrated Platform for Sustainable Development (PIDES) and Rime Asselman, youth advocate and consultant at UN Habitat.
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The Office of the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth was created for the first time by UNSG Ban Ki-moon who nominated Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi as the first ever Envoy on Youth, on 17th of January 2013.
The nomination of an Envoy on Youth came as part of the UN and UNSG Ban Ki-moon's continued efforts towards working with and for Youth, notably through the World Programme of Action for Youth, as well as the UNSG's Five Year Plan priorities.
The Envoy on Youth is assigned with a task of bringing the voice of youth to the United Nations System. Moreover, the Envoy on Youth also works with different UN Agencies, Governments, Civil Society, Academia and Media actors towards enhancing, empowering and strengthening the position of the youth within and outside of the United Nations System. The Envoy on Youth is also described by UNSG Ban Ki-moon as a "harmonizer between all UN agencies" to bring them together to explore cooperation opportunities for working with and for youth.
Personal Information
Born in 1984 in Jordan, Mr. Alhendawi holds a Master's degree in Advanced European and International relations, a diploma as "Policy Officer in European and International Organizations" from the Institut Européen in Nice, and a Bachelor's degree in computer information systems from the Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan.
Professional Career:
Mr. Alhendawi is a strong youth advocate at the national, regional and international levels. He was among the co-founders of All Jordan Youth Commission and the Youth for Democracy Network at the Jordanian Commission for Democratic Culture which he headed. Internationally, he is a co-founder of the International Youth Council, based in New York.
He previously worked as a Team Leader for the World Bank funded programme to the League of Arab States on Institutional Development to Strengthen Arab Policy and Participation. Prior to this, he served as the Youth Policy Advisor in the League of Arab States in Cairo and as an officer in the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Youth and Sports Ministers Council. Past experience also includes serving as a Team Leader for the National Youth Policy Project in Iraq, a Youth Programme Associate at the Iraq office of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and as an Emergency Programme Officer at the non-governmental organization Save the Children. As a regional consultant, he has also supported the Danish Youth Council's projects in the Middle East and North Africa.
