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Young people are the key to unlocking big change. So who better to deliver a message to world leaders about the importance of quality early years care and education than Â鶹APPÂ鶹APP™s Global Youth Ambassadors?

Five passionate GYAs had an unforgettable week during the United Nations General Assembly as they spread the message of the .

In a hectic few days in New York City, they:

• Attended high-level education events hosted by Â鶹APP and others
• Met government ministers and education campaigners
• Called for urgent and bold investment to reach children missing out on crucial early childhood care and education

Ceren Yürümez, a 22-year-old medical student from Turkey, summed up the spirit of our youth activists when she addressed a Â鶹APP event attended by education champions, including UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and tennis star Roger Federer, who is supporting the Act For Early Years campaign.

Ceren told them: Â鶹APPœBelieve in us, work with us. Make sure that our voices are heard because we are speaking for children who donÂ鶹APP™t have a voice.Â鶹APP�

Also in New York to represent our movement of more than 2,000 GYAs in over 120 countries were Nelly Cetera, 22, from Argentina; Siyu (Suzanna) Chen, 20, from Canada; Tyra Gravesande, 23, from the United States; and Manfred Kyenkyehene Osei, 29, from Ghana.

HereÂ鶹APP™s a flavour of our GYAsÂ鶹APP™ week in New York.

Nelly – who works for an international NGO focusing on economic empowerment of youth – was part of an illustrious panel at a Â鶹APP event to mark the halfway stage of the Sustainable Development Goals. It was attended by international leaders, businesses, heads of UN agencies and activists.

Nelly told them that young people have a great opportunity to make changes at both local and global level. She added: Â鶹APPœWe can do local impact programmes but also unite to share our messages and demand changes.

“We have power in numbers. Education is the biggest opportunity we have to make transformative, lasting change.Â鶹APP�

Ceren’s plea to leaders came two days later, when Â鶹APP co-hosted an Act For Early Years event with Sesame Workshop and the Early Childhood Development Action Network.

The event also heard from Tyra, an MA student with a background in women’s studies and bioethics. She said: Â鶹APPœThe youth are actively seeking change and driving social movement. We must recognise the importance of authenticity – rooted in real stories and the stories of young people.”

Tyra also spoke at a third Â鶹APP event, which officially launched Act For Early Years in the US and was attended by guests from the arts, international development, education and showbusiness.

When she had time to reflect, Tyra said: Â鶹APPœThis week has been so transformational for me. IÂ鶹APP™ve met so many amazing advocates, world leaders and changemakers.”

Siyu met a UK government advisor and Robert Rae, CanadaÂ鶹APP™s ambassador to the UN. Siyu said: Â鶹APPœAs a disabled person, I advocated for more investment, policy prioritisation and disability inclusion in quality early childhood development.Â鶹APP�

The GYAs spoke at a skills roundtable with business leaders, hosted by Â鶹APPÂ鶹APP™s .

Nelly talked about the skills divide in Latin America and Tyra about the challenges for marginalised and black girls who struggle to get jobs in US organisations. Manfred spoke about visa and mobility issues.

Manfred and Ceren could hardly contain their excitement after meeting Roger Federer, whose foundation has been focusing on young children in southern Africa and Switzerland for 20 years.

Manfred, who is studying for an MSc in environmental leadership and management, said: Â鶹APPœIt has been an amazing week, getting all these opportunities – hopping from one meeting to another and connecting with people, learning from people from different countries and cultures.

“UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown introduced me to Roger Federer – it felt like a dream.Â鶹APP�

Ceren also met Roger Federer at an event on investing in education systems, hosted by the Global Partnership for Education. She said: Â鶹APPœThat was my highlight of the week.Â鶹APP�

Ceren is currently working on government-funded projects educating families about newborn health and prematurity. She added: Â鶹APPœI see lots of children whose parents donÂ鶹APP™t have basic literacy and theyÂ鶹APP™re suffering from preventable causes of death. If we teach those parents and those kids how to take care of their physical and mental health, we can prevent lots of diseases.Â鶹APP�

The GYAs also went to an event at UN headquarters called Elevate Education as a Win-Win for the SDGs, hosted by Project Everyone.