Wow. I can't believe that it's been two years since my special moment at MLOW 2015, standing at that podium in the UN General Assembly reiterating the importance of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. What made MLOW so special for me was the chance to advance sustainable development and embrace diversity from another angle, as compared to the usual political or diplomatic approaches. And that angle was the new depth of conversation and ideas created by multilingualism.
For me, MLOW was just my first wow, the start of my journey, as I was able to keep advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, directly at the United Nations. In September 2015 I had the chance to be in the room in the UN General Assembly during the adoption of the SDGs representing youth worldwide together with Malala Yousafzai. I then supported the private sector with the implementation of the goals in Canada through UN Global Compact, which directly links to the speech I was able to give back at MLOW regarding the economic dimensions of the SDGs. Currently, I am back to being a student of International Law at Georgetown Law in Washington D.C. where I have also taken on learning a new language, Swahili. I recently founded the UN Association Georgetown Law to advance sustainability and human rights issues throughout the legal profession and raise the voice of youth – in the spirit of MLOW and the wealth of ideas and action that grows when young people come together.
However, the biggest wow goes out to all of the other inspiring young people that I was able to share this experience with, that were able to fluently speak way more languages than myself, have impressed me with so many stories such as reading a book from every country of the world, have achieved incredible things in their lifetimes already, and went on to do even more world-changing things after our time of MLOW.
And a last wow regards the upcoming MLOW 2017 as I already know that you are going to be amazing up there at the podium in the UN General Assembly, impressing the audience with your innovative ideas and language skills, and leaving the world and me speechless.
Elisabeth Anna Resch from Austria
MLOW 2015 Winner