UN Delegates at age 17 to promote youth involvement
- Maya Hammoud
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Becoming a UN delegate at 17 wasn’t what we expected this year—but it’s an experience we will never forget.
We were honored to take part in the United Nations High-Level Meeting commemorating 30 years of the World Programme of Action for Youth, carrying with us the voices and visions of young leaders worldwide.
Read our full statements and the powerful country statements from the United Nations General Assembly meeting. The Perception Foundation's complete remarks can be found under the first civil society!
Below is one of our statements:
We measure youth by the years we’ve lived. That is a lie. Youth are not waiting. Youth are alive. Youth are necessary. And every day, we look them in the eye and tell them they do not matter. Their voices do not count. Their futures can wait.
Only 16% of young people are invited to make real decisions. Seventy-five percent are desperate to shape the world — climate, mental health, inclusion — and we shut them out.
We are not the leaders of tomorrow. We are the leaders of now. You do not empower us by inviting us to be seen. You empower us by trusting us, by giving us resources, and by letting us lead today.
At The Perception Foundation, we refuse to stay silent. Entirely youth-led, with 90+ branches across 20 countries, we empower thousands of young people, especially the 25% who often feel invisible, leaders from all walks of life and across the neurodiversity spectrum to lead, act, and be seen.
We provide mentorship. We show youth how to start social initiatives, gain funding, advocate, and engage communities. We pioneer solutions: cost-efficient sensory rooms under $500, mobile sensory carts, a national curriculum on emotional regulation, inclusion, and neurodiversity. We discovered a novel biomarker for neurodevelopmental disorders. All while being told our futures could wait.
Full, effective, meaningful youth participation is not optional. It is survival. It is about giving every young person, even those who doubt themselves, the mentorship, tools, and platforms to lead.
You must not just invite us to the table. You must make space for us to build our own. Deny our voices, our spaces, our right to lead, and history will not just remember that you failed. It will remember that you chose to.
We are here. We are bold. We will not be ignored.