Accountability Lab – in partnership with Restless Development, Open Government Partnership (OGP), and Government of Canada – is proud to announce this year’s youth delegates for the 2019 Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Ottawa, Canada!

At the Summit, these delegates will come together to think through the future of open government and design practical ideas for governments, businesses, and civil society organizations to make youth engagement meaningful within different OGP processes.

We received over 3,000 applicants for the 25 spots, showing just how important open government is to young people today. This year’s cohort of youth delegates (ages 19-26) includes representatives from 19 different countries and 6 continents. They are researchers, directors and presidents of NGOs and CSOs, lawyers, doctoral candidates, activists, university students, and active citizens. They care about and work on issues such as public policy, health, sustainable development, anti-corruption, women’s rights, youth empowerment, good governance, technology, open data, democracy promotion, LGBTQIA+ rights, and, of course, open government.

We are delighted to introduce the following 2019 OGP Global Summit Youth Delegates:

Amal Al Mahayreh (Jordan)

Amal Al Mahayreh is a Jordanian researcher who has worked on seven assessment reports on the Jordanian government’s performance, two of which focused on the implementation of Jordan’s Third National OGP Action Plan. Amal is passionate about enhancing government transparency, expanding public participation, and including Jordanian youth in decision-making processes. She also conducts workshops for youths and government employees on OGP, organizes Open Government Week activities, and prepares materials – such as short films – that raise civil awareness about open government issues.

Anael Bodwell (Seychelles)

              
Anael is the Co-Founder of SYAH Seychelles, a youth-led NGO working to advance youth-led initiatives in the area of sustainable development, and she currently works in the Performance Audit Unit at the Office of the Auditor General in Seychelles. Anael also served as a Board Member of the Seychelles National Youth Council from 2016 to 2017. Her contribution to her community and country has led her receiving the Queen’s Young Leader Award for 2018.

Arthur B. Karyah (Liberia)

Arthur B. Karyah, a 26-year-old Liberian, has supported good governance in West Africa for nearly 5 years through his work on promoting open and inclusive government practices. He serves as Director of Programs at the Regional Center for Inter-Ethnic Dialogue (RECID), where he shares policies, tools, and knowledge that strengthen citizens’ voices in the governance and development of their societies. At RECID, Arthur works to facilitate young people’s voices through programs that lead the way for equitable, economically profitable, and democratic practices by leveraging the power of inclusive governance processes.

Batool Barody (Canada)

Batool Barody is an H.SCs candidate pursuing Biomedical Sciences at York University, where she has served as the President of the Canadian Coalition of Global Health Research Student Chapter and is currently serving as the Executive Support Advisor at the Student and Young Professional Network. She is also a delegate at the International Relations Student Association at York University, where she participates in Model UN at McGill University, McMaster University, and Harvard World Model UN. She has also received a certificate of appreciation from the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Hon. Ahmed D. Hussen, due to her extensive involvement in her community where she helps refugees and newcomers adjust to their new life in Canada.

Chaimae Bourjij (Morocco)

Chaimae Bourjij is a program manager at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Morocco. She founded the Youth SDG Action Project in 2017; and, as a result, she won the 2018 Global Mobilizer of the Year Award, which was awarded by the UN SDG Action Campaign. Chaimae found and chairs the International Youth Council’s Morocco Chapter and has been named the MENA Regional Director of the International Youth Federation.

Dagia Aka (Papua New Guinea)

Currently employed by Transparency International (TI) Papua New Guinea (PNG) as their Youth Integrity Program Coordinator, Dagia Aka has over 7 years of experience in the space of youth empowerment, anti-corruption, and good governance. In 2016, Dagia was elected to the Board of TI PNG as their youngest Board Director. During this time, he was also one of the first recipients of the Young Man of Honor Award by the Men of Honor Campaign of the Digicel PNG Foundation, recognized his work with youth in PNG.

Danyal Hayat (Pakistan)

Danyal Hayat is a Manager of Industrial Linkages and Technology Transfer at the Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization at CECOS University. His portfolio includes working on an honorary basis with the Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan in the Department of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program and with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ministry of Youth Affairs, Culture, Tourism, and Archaeology as an honorary member of the Youth Development Commission. Danyal champions open education, access, data, and government and has had the honor to serve twice as an Organizing Committee Member for OpenCon in Canada.

Emmanuel Dakweng Bature (Nigeria)

Emmanuel Dakweng Bature is the Founder and Executive Director of Young African Politician, an organization which focuses on enhancing youth inclusiveness and participation in politics and good governance. Emmanuel volunteers with the Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa to train and supervise 207 local election observers in Plateau State, Nigeria for the 2019 general elections. He also volunteers with the Independent National Electoral Commission in Plateau State to sensitize voters at the grassroot level to ensure peaceful electoral processes.

Eva Nzila (Kenya)

Eva Nzila is the founder of the Center for Leadership and Governance, which advocates for meaningful inclusion of young people in government. She also works as a volunteer at the Organization of African Youth as the partnership and networking lead. She is passionate about working with young people in shaping society sustainably and affiliates herself with the global youth community under Youth Power.

Finbar Piper (Australia)

Finbar is a Juris Doctor candidate at Melbourne Law School and has just completed a specialisation in Transnational Law at Georgetown University. In addition to being a doctoral candidate, he is currently a Commissioner for Australia’s National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Employment and Transitions and works part-time for the Victorian State Government. Previously, he was the Director of Engagement at Oaktree, Australia’s largest youth-run NGO.

Hercules Jim (Papua New Guinea)

Hercules Jim was one of the students who orchestrated the 2016 nationwide student protest against Papua New Guinea’s corrupt government. Hercules is currently the Project Officer for the Governance and Service Delivery Committee under the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council. Apart from his formal employment, Hercules participates in the PNG OGP Steering Committee as a Youth Representative as well as the Youth Against Corruption Association and PNG Youth Coalition Network as a Strategic Member of both.

Karen Lizzet Díaz Valdez (Peru)

Karen Díaz Valdez studies communications and is a coordinator with IGUANA ORG, a CSO in Lambayeque, Peru driven by youth. IGUANA ORG empowers and brings together CSOs in the region to advocate for more democratic and effective public policies. After Karen received a UNDP scholarship in 2016 aimed at empowering youth, she has worked on several projects that strengthen civic engagement of youth organizations through education and cultural initiatives.

Lesley Mayhew (Canada)

Lesley Mayhew started engaging with her community by creating Ottawa Workout Buddies, which has nearly 1000 members and encourages people to connect accountability to their own health. In 2018, she was affected by situation at the United States’ southern border and organized a rally in Ottawa for Families Belong Together. Since then, Lesley has worked with Apathy is Boring as an ambassador for the second cohort of Rise.

Maria Camila Betancourt Moreno (Colombia)

Maria Camila Betancourt Morena graduated in 2016 from the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga and completed an internship with the City Hall of Bucaramanga in 2015. After graduation, she took on the challenge of working as the leader of the transparency program in same City Hall, advising on the implementation of transparency politics, public ethics, culture of legitimacy, and accountability strategies. Last year, Maria began to specialize in new technologies, innovation, and city management at Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Martín Loza (Ecuador)

Martín is a Geographer and Planner from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, who has worked on research projects that deal with social mapping, urban development, open data, and risk management. He is in charge of the Geographical Data and Visualization Department at Datalat, where he promotes interactive mapping tools for storytelling with open data. In addition, Martín is one of the founding members of the Open Data and Metadata Ecuadorian Network, where he’s part of the investigation team that is currently researching the state of open data in Ecuador in public and private institutions.

Pierre Mesure (Sweden)

Pierre Mesure work for a non-profit Swedish democracy lab called Digidem Lab, which aims to improve democracy at the local level through more inclusive, impactful, and transparent citizen participation. At Digidem Lab, the team uses a variety of methods and open source tools to train civil servants and raise engagement among underrepresented groups. As a co-founder of Civic Tech Sweden, Pierre is also an advocate for more transparency through open data at the national level, working on issues such as opacity in legislation making as well as public procurement.

Ratu Eqivalen Fikri Faidah (Indonesia)

In 2016, Ratu was one of the Indonesian Representatives for the Indonesia-US Youth Leadership Program in Washington D.C., where she was able to develop her leadership skills as well as her knowledge about gender equality, justice, tolerance, and sustainable development.  n 2017, Ratu moved to Istanbul thanks to a fully-funded scholarship to study International Relations at Istanbul University in Turkey. She uses her platform to empower youths from around the world and raise awareness about SDGs through campaigns and initiative impacts.

Renata Leal (Brazil)

Renata started her career as a researcher when she had the opportunity to intern at the Department of International Development and Governance at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. Her professional experiences include quantitative and qualitative research in several social areas: education, housing, gender equality, financial inclusion, as well as urban and rural development. Working in partnership with municipal governments has led her to become more interested in govtech, open government tools and data, and the ways local governments can implement effective transparency policies.

Shaneel Lal (New Zealand)

As an immigrant from Fiji, a person of colour, and a member of the rainbow community, Shaneel want to ensure that the voices of young people from his communities are heard during policy-making and that youth culture is incorporated in the system. Shaneel joined the Youth Advisory Group to ensure that a Pasifika perspective is represented, to share his experiences, and to update the education system so that it works for all. He has a keen interest in advocating for LGBTQIA+ youth as well as debating why ‘gay is okay’ and ‘trans rights are human rights.’

Sofiya Harbuziuk (Ukraine)

In 2014, Sofiya joined the National Scout Organization of Ukraine PLAST and was an active participant of the Revolution of Dignity. Starting at the age of 17, Sofiya has organized more than 20 regional and all-Ukrainian events, camps, and trainings for youth. Currently, Sofiya works as an interpreter in the military and diplomatic fields, and she works with young people on a weekly basis.

Ulukbek Abdubaliev (Kyrgyzstan)

As a National Programme Officer at the Policy and Planning Unit, Ulukbek coordinates economic and environmental projects within the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek that promote good governance and public-private partnerships, border and customs control, and environmental security; fight against corruption and money laundering; and develop small and medium-sized enterprises. Ulukbek is a former Vice-President of Outgoing Exchange at AIESEC International Youth Organization and a holder of the Steven Shea Excellence Award from the United States-Central Asia Education Foundation due to his youth leadership and involvement with the decision-making processes at the government level.

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