Global Citizen Award Presented to Westminster’s Joseph Munyambanza
Last week, Westminster College student Joseph Munyambanza was presented the Global Citizen Award by the UN Youth Advisory Board. You can view the awards ceremony and learn more about the work Joseph does on the Global Citizen Festival website. Joseph said, “I am sincerely humbled and grateful that the world is recognizing the work my friends and I do to educate the youth.”
Joseph spent September 22 – 29 in New York City at the annual meeting participating in a variety of prestigious activities. Joseph was on a panel with Carol Bellamy, Former Board Chair of the Global Partnership for Education and H.E. Maker Famba Mwangu, Minister of Education for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Joseph, Co-Founder and Educational Director of COBURWAS/CIYOTA, shared information on COBURWAS’s work with displaced youth, the challenges of addressing educational needs in a conflict setting, and opportunities for youth to be active participants in the educational process.
Joseph also met with 14 other young people chosen to serve as advisers on international education to the UN Secretary General and Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy on Global Education. Joseph was selected as a member of this committee in September 2012. Since then, the committee has had intensive engagement with global leaders and education ministers to reach a 2015 goal to enroll all children in school, improve the quality of learning, and foster global citizenship. During his time in New York, his committee gathered with the UN executive team for an anniversary celebration, evaluate their success, and plan for the remaining days ahead.
