Local youth ambassador in fight against poverty

By Aideen O’Flaherty

A LOCAL youth ambassador is now gearing up for her second year as part of ONE’s campaign to fight against poverty.

Katie Black, from Kingswood in Tallaght, first became a youth ambassador while she was still in college last year.

She said that the role first piqued her interest because “advocacy and tackling poverty is something that I’ve always been interested in.”

ONE is an international campaigning and advocacy organisation co-founded by Bono, which focuses on people who are in extreme poverty, with a particular focus on people who are in Africa.

Katie explained that being a youth ambassador involves working from the ground up with local politicians and talking to them about global issues relating to poverty.

She described the role as offering her “the opportunity to do something good.”

“I get the opportunity to organise my own campaigns, put my own ideas into practice, and not have to wait for instructions.”

Last year Katie set up a campaign for ONE where she went through Dublin City taking people’s photos and getting their opinions on poverty, in a style that’s been popularised by the influential Humans of New York Facebook page.

She added that one of the highlights of her role so far was travelling to Paris with other ONE youth ambassadors from around the world and meeting with French government ministers.

Now Katie’s main focus is on advocating for access to education for girls who are in extreme poverty, as she believes education plays a key role in helping to combat poverty.