 Four years ago, Vadim-Alexandru Pungulescu, 19, counted himself among Romania's disillusioned youth. He saw the world as hopeless. But a stint as a volunteer for a magazine changed all that.
Children's Thoughts and Voices, which is published by Save the Children Romania, was the first publication in the country to provide an outlet for children to express their opinions freely; a first in Romania. Vadim became increasingly involved in the editorial team, eventually becoming the Editor-in-Chief.
"For the first time I saw that children could be treated with respect, as human beings who had hopes and ideas," he explained. "I changed. Before I was self-centred but now I put others first."
Youth initiatives were Vadim's top priority. In addition to his work on the magazine, he was the technical advisor to Romania's National Centre for Volunteers, gave classes on children's rights at high schools in Bucharest and hoped to help build a children's Parliament in his country.
Vadim put his political skills into practice at the UN Special Session on Children in New York. He was one of nearly 350 young people meeting with government leaders and Heads of state, NGOs and children's advocates.
The goal of the Special Session was to put children at the top of every government's agenda and show that investment in children was directly linked to development. The amount of children's involvement was unprecedented. For the first time in United Nations history, children addressed the UN body as delegates themselves.
"It may seem like common sense to invite young people to a conference completely dedicated to their well-being. But this is a radical change for such high-level meetings," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Children will literally be rubbing shoulders with presidents and prime ministers. They will have a chance to voice their concerns and influence the debate."
Vadim agreed the change was remarkable: "Ten years ago [at the World Summit for Children] children were given token treatment," but this time around they were able to talk directly to Heads of State and Representatives of Government.
At the opening of the Children's Forum where the 'Under-18 Delegates' were meeting to prepare their goals for children to present to the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan promised their voices would be heard. "Your presence here marks a new chapter in the history of the UN," said Mr. Annan. "So far, adults have called the shots, but now it's time to build the world with children."
Vadim, once disillusioned, was now hopeful. "In 10 years time, I won't be Virtual Printer a child anymore, but I hope that the world will be a better place in which adults will take decisions with children instead of for them."
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